Family Matters
by Dark-Illusion-Detective
Summary: Sequel to Friends Forever. Life for the Chaotix seems to be better than it once was. But not every story has a happy ending. Charmy and his friends are about to find that out as an old enemy returns... with a few new friends.
1. Prologue: New Life, Old Enemy

**Family Matters**

Hey guys! I present the Sequel to Friends Forever!! Hope you guys like it... I'm sort of short on inspiration, since it's almost Christmas and my mind's else where. Sorry if the summary stinks, I had no idea how to improve it so there you go! That's the summary until I can get a better idea in my head for it. Nonetheless, please tell me what you guys think!

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. But she does own her OCs, Sinister the Hedgehog, Angel the Butterfly and Apple the Fox/Racoon Hybrid.

Presenting the prologue!!

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**Prologue: New Life, Old Enemy**

It seemed strange that a whole year had passed; a year of unfortunate souls that found their rightful places in Heaven and in Hell, and a year of luck and chance. Or that was how Apple would explain it to me anyways. Even as New Year decorations were being put up, I could still see Angel's soft eyes watching Apple and myself as we stood on chairs to put up bright lanterns that were lit with an assortion of color.

I guess you can say nothing much had actually changed during the whole year. We all decided to keep our distance from the Chaotix, so that way we wouldn't interfere in places we shouldn't, and we've actually decided to move out of Hell. Sure the Angel of Death gave us all crap as we were packing and sure he wanted us to live somewhere where there weren't a heck of a lot of people; but we all said the same thing to him, "Screw that logic!" So almost a year later, Angel and I have been living on West Side Island, and we've befriended Apple, a young girl who we've adopted into our strange family.

The late afternoon sky had just fallen victim to the arrival of twilight as the decorations were finally put up. Angel had happiness sparkling in her eyes and Apple grinned widely.

"Finally we're done!" Apple remarked as she sat down on the chair she had just been standing on.

"I know! I thought you guys were never gonna get done!"

I was the only one out of us that really didn't talk; don't get me wrong, it wasn't like I didn't like to talk, it was just that there was nothing to talk about. Sure we told the Angel of Death to screw his logic of living in a place with not too many people, and unfortunately we chose a place that was almost isolated from other people... well if you don't count the neighbors that lived almost a mile away from us and the populated town just fifteen miles away, then you can say we were in an isolated place. Apple coming into our lives was probably the greatest thing to happen since she knew what to talk about and how to get someone involved in a conversation.

"Any ideas on what we could have for New Years dinner?"

"Not a clue," I replied with a distracted voice.

"How about we have a feast? With a large turkey, ice cream, cranberry sauce, and other stuff?"

"Sort of like the Thanksgiving Dinner?"

Angel nodded happily as she moved her white bangs out of her eyes. Apple looked at me for a response to that. I found myself not paying attention and staring at the twilight sky that started to get darker.

"Sin? Mobius to Sinister... SINISTER!"

"WHAT?!"

"Jeez, you never get this distracted, even if you're off from killing people," Apple said quietly. "Is... everything okay?"

"Yeah. Of course everything's okay," I replied quickly as I smiled, "I think that sounds like a great idea. Apple, would you like to go shopping for the dinner?"

"But it's fifteen miles!"

"Take the motorcycle then."

"... You remember what happened last time right?"

I blinked, "what happened last-"

"Never mind! I'll be back soon!" Apple swiftly yelled as she dashed out of the small apartment and the sound of the motorcycle starting up was heard clearly. Soon the sound of the motorcycle was no longer there as it sped off.

"Okay, what did she do?"

"She... sort of crashed into a mailbox. The motorcycle made it out alive, but... the mailbox didn't."

I took in a deep breath and sighed, "oh well. As long as the motorcycle is okay then I'm fine with that."

Angel looked up at me and even though she was now... six I think? Maybe it was seven. Ugh, I hate ages. Anyways, even though she was very young she was growing up so fast that maybe when she reached the age eleven she would be almost as tall as I am. Even after Apple and I tried to get her to dye her hair a different color she refused, so now her hair was longer but it was pure white and her eyes were still the same soft color that I remember them being.

"Something's up and I wanna know what it is."

"... I was just thinking about what my New Year wish should be."

Angel smiled, "I know mine! Wanna hear it?"

"No silly, it won't come true if you tell me it. How about you get cleaned up and we'll get ready to make a wish together?"

Angel gave me another smile that made me feel almost bad about lying to her like that; but as she skipped away to her room I knew that I did the right thing. The more I lie, perhaps the better for her.

I looked out in the darkness and asked quietly, "what are you doing... right now Charmy? Angel and I miss you... you don't remember us right? I'm sure you'll-"

"AH!" I heard Angel shriek. My first instinct was to run toward Angel's scream, but something caught my arm. I turned and I felt dizzy, faint, even fearful.

"Y-you're not suppose to be here!"

"..."

"Um..."

Nothing happened and I started to relax slightly.

"Get off me!" I shouted angrily as I yanked my arm away... or tried to anyways. The figure didn't let go and the grip tightened. "LET ME GO!"

"Sinister!" yelled Angel as she dashed in and slashed at the figure. Thank chaos Apple took the liberty of teaching Angel how to fight. The figure backed away and I saw a delicate, fragile hand pointing at me.

_"Mirror, Mirror on the wall-"_

"Sin... who is that?"

"Definately not the person I originally thought it was," I muttered as the figure pointed at me and I was met up with a large beam of light.

**--- A while later ---**

"Sinister! Angel! I'm home! I'm... guys?" I could hear Apple calling out. Angel had been crying again, it was obvious by her tearstained face and by how she held me tightly in her small embrace.

I looked up and saw Apple stare at me with wide eyes.

"What?"

"I'm so sorry! I'm so so sorry!" cried Angel as she hugged me.

Apple backed away slightly, "what happened?"

"Apple... I should've told you before... I'm... the Angel of Death's apprentice."

I knew exactly what Apple was looking at and I felt shame. Instead of being in the light blue tank top and dark jeans that I was in previously, I was back in my dark cloak and beside Angel and myself was my old scythe. Angel held me tightly as she would see that I had turned younger, and that I had a mark over my left eye. A scar.

"H-Huh?"

You guys know what happens when someone has a hard time to comprehend something and they get all panicky? They faint. Unfortunately though, we never told Apple about our past. Angel ran over to Apple as she fell to the hardwood floor. She had fainted.

**---**

**Wow! I finally finished the first part of the Sequel!! I'm so happy! Now I think I know how to prevent my cousin from erasing any more of my files and I would like to thank Chaos for that! And best of all, I'm on vacation for the next two weeks! So expect a few updates now and then! Okay, so tell me what you guys think and I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! **


	2. Red Eyes

Hey guys! I hope you guys are having a great holiday out there, and I definately hope it continues to be the best! Okay, as always, tell me what you think of this chapter, maybe I can improve or something?

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her OCs, Sinister the Hedgehog, Angel the Butterfly, Apple the Fox/Racoon Hybrid, Ocean the Armadillo, and Hailey the Spider.

Here's another chapter to Family Matters!!

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**Chapter One: Red Eyes**

As midnight drew closer and closer, the Chaotix building was lit up with lanterns that burned different colors, and streamers were hanging all over the building as though Charmy had gone on a huge sugar rushed rampage; um... right... he _was _in charge and he _was_ on a major sugar rush when he was putting up the streamers. A good mistake on Vector's part as the crocodile was watching old episodes of the Olympics where he was one of the participants.

"VECTOR! CHANGE THE CHANNEL BACK! I WANNA SEE THE BALL DROP!" Charmy yelled from his room.

Vector muttered something as the channel was changed back. It showed that there was only an hour left before the ball would drop over the citizens of Casinopolis and already there were crowds of thousands, perhaps millions of people waiting for that one moment. The crocodile never really understood why on Mobius anyone would be so excited to see a ball drop. Then again it was New Years Eve, people were suppose to be happy and anxious to see if their wish for the new year would actually come true.

His wish was something for his own selfish gains. To have Vanilla admire him and hopefully fall in love with him; that was his wish. Even after he told Espio that wish the chameleon made the point that now that Vector told the wish it wouldn't come true. Thus explains why Vector was in a slightly good but yet horrible mood.

"You're thinking again."

Vector looked to the right of him and he felt a tap on his left shoulder.

"I'm right here."

In a few seconds, Espio appeared next to Vector. The crocodile nodded and Charmy peeked over the railing of the stairs and watched the duo talk.

Of course, even after a year, there have been a few bickering moments and moments where Charmy wanted to scream that he didn't need to listen to the arguments, but after a while the arguments died away. Espio walked over to the couch and sat down. A bored look was painted on Espio's face and Vector kept on watching the count down to the ball dropping get closer and closer to zero.

"A new year... wonder what kind of cases we'll get," Espio quietly said.

"We'll have to see."

Everyone turned to the door as it opened. Hailey walked in calmly while taking off her winter hat and jacket.

"Am I too late?"

"Nope! Right on time!" Charmy replied happily as he flew down the stairs and sat down beside Espio. Hailey smiled as she walked in.

"How's your father doing?"

Hailey's face dropped slightly and any one could see that something was up. Espio quickly interrupted.

"Vector. Lets wait until after the ball falls to interrogate the nice lady."

Vector rolled his eyes at Espio as he turned his orange eyes back onto the TV. Hailey walked over to where Charmy was and gave him a huge hug.

"Happy New Years Charmy!"

She turned to Espio and hugged him as well, "Happy New Years Espy!"

"Don't call me Espy!! Have you been hanging out with Rouge again?"

"Nonsense, we just got into a huge argument!"

There was dead silence until Charmy had the nerve to question, "about boys? And which guy you girls liked was better?"

Hailey's face turned slightly pink; Charmy always knew what kind of arguments Hailey would get into. The spider shook her head and quickly sat down between Espio and Charmy with a large grin on her face.

"I can't wait for the ball to fall! I bet you guys anything I made the best wish yet!"

"... How old are you again? Last time I checked you're fifteen but yet you act like a five year old."

Hailey glared at Espio but the dagger filled look didn't last too long as Vector exclaimed, "FIFTEEN MORE MINUTES!!"

Hailey squealed along with Charmy for the next five minutes. But then again you're probably wondering how it is that I know what was happening right about now. Well...

**--- Outside ---**

"Please explain this to me once more Angel... I'm so confused," Apple whispered quietly as she carried me. Oh I forgot to mention that whatever the... person hit me with, not only changed me back so I could be the Angel of Death's Apprentice again but it also changed me into a baby after about... two hours of walking to Westopolis.

Angel sighed as she looked at me. She knew it was hopeless though.

"Sinister is the Angel of Death's Apprentice, some weird demon came by and changed her, and now we're here to see if it comes here."

Apple frowned as she put me down and held her bright green ringed tail; of course she would be nervous with the news of me being somehow connected to the person who kills people for a living and to a kid who controls time. Angel then looked at me as I looked completely bored out of my mind.

_"Please tell me this isn't pernament Angel. I can't stay like this forever! Right? Please tell me I'll change back!!"_ my thoughts cried out.

Apple lifted me and Angel shook her head.

"I can't see anything that's related to you in the future."

"That isn't good right?"

"That's right. If I can't see her in the future then the worse that happens is that she either winds up dead or whatever she was hit with blocks her completely from my future sight," Angel explained as she looked through the window.

_"They won't know who we are if we have to charge in and defend them from the demon... thing."_

"I know... but Charmy..."

I didn't have to hear the rest of her quiet rant, I knew exactly how she felt. She cared for Charmy and unfortunately we were now all caught up in a mess that we had no idea what could happen. As I scratched my ear I squealed out in displeasure.

"What's wrong?" Apple asked in a hushed whisper. Her bright yellow eyes were filled with worry and I kept on squealing out of displeasure and annoyance.

Angel looked at me; she was ready to hear my... thoughts?

_"Something's wrong...... I don't know what but-"_

My eyes drifted over to Hailey who shot out of her seat along with Charmy and they cheered loudly for the ball that had just dropped. I suddenly felt two long shadows fall over us. Angel, and Apple turned to see two people I thought we wouldn't see until much later.

"Um... mind if I ask what you guys are doing?"

_"Mighty?"_

There before our very eyes, was Mighty the Armadillo and a younger Ocean the armadillo. Angel looked completely frozen and her grip on me tightened.

"... We're lost. And we didn't want to interrupt the happy vibe in there," Apple told Mighty calmly. I knew Apple was a great actress, but the change in her eyes that switched from fear to relief sort of caught me off guard.

Mighty seemed instantly concerned as a six year old Ocean looked at me with wide vivid eyes. I remembered Angel telling me that things would change if we changed Charmy's life; this must've been one of the things that changed, Ocean was born later than normal.

"So you guys wanted the Chaotix's help?"

Apple nodded, "please? I'm sorry if we haven't met. I'm Apple! And these are my friends Angel and Sinister. We got lost from West Side Island and we needed a place to stay and to get help. But... the hotel is closed right now so we had no other real choice."

Mighty seemed to be thinking about the options he could give us and Angel glanced at me, and that's when I wanted to cry like any young baby would.

"Well I don't see the harm. You guys seem like good people. Come with me, I'll introduce you guys."

"Really? Oh you honestly will?!" Apple asked with a voice that made me sniffle. The bad thing about being a baby was that everything was so loud! I then started to cry loudly; I wasn't sure why I felt irritated or even mad but all I knew was that I had to cry otherwise something bad was going to happen.

Ocean's eyes widened as Mighty walked over and lifted me up. I kept crying and I felt myself being rocked. Slowly I managed to calm down and Mighty grinned as he handed me over to Apple, "there we go."

So that's how we managed to become friends with Mighty; wow... that for some reason sounds so strange to say. Apple and Angel followed Mighty and they both started to talk to Ocean, who surprisingly knew quite a lot from the last time I saw her.

"And that's how daddy got his name."

Okay, so there was a few things she would point out that was a bit obvious; but I guess this is her first time with a group of people like us, and thus she wouldn't know what to talk about right off the bat.

"So mind if I ask why you're here with your daughter Mighty?"

Mighty turned to Apple who held me still, I smiled because I knew Apple's charm was working perfectly. By gaining information from Mighty and the Chaotix, we'd figure out who the demon would go after first. Just as Mighty was about to give his reason, a loud, ear shattering screech was heard from over the Chaotix building. Everyone looked up but me and my gaze met with a pair of ruby red eyes.

From the shadows, a slender, beautiful figure walked out toward us. I whimpered and everyone looked toward where I was looking.

"What's wrong Sin? What is it?"

_"Can't you see her?! She's right in front of us!!"_

Angel sweatdropped and shook her head, "there's nothing there Sin..."

Sure enough, I was proven wrong as the figure with the red eyes disappeared almost as fast as she appeared. What a way to look like a hallucinating idiot!

"Huh... that was a bit strange. Shall we go in-"

The door flew open and running out was Hailey who seemed way too frantic to form comprehendable sentences. Hailey ran right into Apple and I fell to the sidewalk. I didn't cry for a long moment as Hailey helped Apple up to her feet.

"Are you okay Miss?"

"I-I don't know what to do!!"

"C-Calm down miss-"

"The name's Hailey! And how can I?! They're hurt! A girl with red eyes came and hurt them!" Hailey exclaimed with slight anger toward Apple.

"Hey! Don't yell! She didn't do anything!"

Hailey glared at Angel and I felt warm tears burning my eyes as they threatened to fall. Mighty got in between them and for a long moment I couldn't hear anything, and darkness surrounded me.

The first thing I saw when the darkness cleared up was red eyes staring at me. Then a brick wall appeared with red paint dripping from it. I then read the message written.

_**In the Light you bid your farewell and go back to Hell; in the shadows you hide, refusing to hand out your goodbyes. You're lost in the cold wasteland, your destiny at hand. The shadows and light no longer accept you, soon no one will give you their hand when trouble finds you too. The last key to unlocking his past, hides in your very heart. Now make your answer fast, and tell us where to start.**_

I soon felt ice cold, and I felt like I was suffocating. The darkness surrounded me once more until my eyes opened to the sight of everyone surrounding me, even the Chaotix.

"Sinister?"

Angel seemed worried and I coughed as I got up to my feet. I looked over myself and froze. What happened? I was covered in red; if it was paint or blood I wasn't sure but when I saw Apple's wide eyes staring at me, I figured it was the second thing.

"What..."

"It didn't work!"

"Calm down for a second Angel-"

"NO!" Angel shouted at me. I backed up slightly and she picked up my scythe and pointed it at me, "You told me it would work! And guess what? It freaking didn't!"

Okay if you catch Angel ever using the word 'freaking' or shouting at anyone you know something is very wrong. I felt out of place though, almost in a deja vu moment as everything seemed to have happened before. Angel growled and slashed at me. I shrieked as I felt a pair of hands holding me.

"SINISTER!"

I closed my eyes and opened them to see Espio holding me. Everyone else stared at me with wide eyes as I blinked. The way Espio held me made me realize that I was no longer in a baby form but back to my old form.

"What..."

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you."

I looked to see Hailey with a guilty look on her face. I looked at Apple, and my mind scattered. Angel hid behind Apple, fear seemed to run through her because she wouldn't even look at me. Then it hit me; anything that went through my mind she could hear or see. She probably saw everything.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes..."

I sat up and yelled in pain as I held my head with both of my hands. Darkness engulfed me and through the darkness I saw two ruby red eyes. It cleared up and I found myself back in Espio's arms, and I couldn't move.

"What's... going... on?" I asked in a scared voice.

It's rare to hear me scared, maybe it's because I've got Shadow's blood running through me and Shadow's rarely scared. Sure, Shadow can be a bit emo at times but he's hardly ever scared. Espio must've said something to everyone because his mouth moved and formed words.

I couldn't hear anything. The last thing that I saw was those red eyes, piercing through my conscious and into my soul. When the darkness made me numb to both the outside world and my own world, I knew it would be a long while before one of my main questions were answered.

_"What's happening to me?"_

**---**

**Yay! Another chapter done! Finally! Okay if you guys are confused let me quickly explain. Sinister was having multiple visions in a row. She saw Hailey get angry at Angel, then the message written on the wall, and finally she saw Angel attack her. Oh one last note, this story is mainly going to be in Sinister's POV because it would be a new thing to try out, not only that but I think it would make the story a bit more interesting. That's just me though. As usual I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I hope you'll tell me if I can improve on anything.**


	3. Almost

Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favorites! I appreciate your guys' support. Anyways, after having this story erased by my cousin _and_ her best friend almost three times, I finally got the next chapter to Family Matters done and ready to be read! Hope you guys enjoy it and hope you guys tell me if I can improve on anything.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own Ocean the Armadillo, Sinister the Hedgehog, Apple the Racoon/Fox Hybrid, Angel the Butterfly, Hailey the Spider, and Flame the Swallow.

Presenting... Chapter Two of Family Matters!!

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**Chapter Two: Almost**

The darkness was winning in my mind; I couldn't see past the lies that were dumped in front of me, keeping me from running away. The voices also crowded my head with shouts and desperate pleas of the past that fell victim to my scythe, my regrets. I didn't understand and I was scared to understand. Where was this place? Why was I here? Would Apple ever speak to Angel and I again once I fought free of this eternal mist of disaster?

It was one of those moments where you had to cry, had to scream for help; but it was one of those times where your voice and eyes betrayed you to the point where you couldn't yell or spill any tears. The images that were gathering around me made me fell claustrophobic. They all seemed to spell out the same thing.

_**Angel and I weren't the only ones in danger anymore. Everyone was involved because of us.**_

"What are you saying? What did Angel and I do?" I asked loudly, angrily. I clenched my hands and suddenly the images shattered as Angel appeared in front of me.

Her hair was no longer white, it was black and her eyes were no longer soft with a childish innocence, they were hard, filled with so much sadness and anger. She wore a robe that resembled mine and she held my scythe.

"It's what we haven't done that's caused this."

"What is it that we haven't done?"

Angel seemed to sigh as she took my hand and dragged me over to a window.

"Look out there. You'll see someone that was the slight trigger from a year ago."

I did just as my young friend told me to do and I felt instant guilt. Running, and crying was Flame. She looked exactly like she did the year before and she looked very panicked.

"Angel! Why is she running!? Angel!?"

Angel was gone and I continued to watch Flame running. She was obviously screaming but through the window I could not hear a single word that was shouted. I pressed my hand against the window and the feeling of fear rushed through my veins as I saw Flame trip.

"FLAME!! FLAME!! GET UP! PLEASE GET UP!!"

Then the worse thing that could happen, actually happened. Angel appeared, her eyes blank and she was in an offense position. Flame jumped to her feet and tried to escape, but Angel lifted a hand toward her.

"Time Freeze."

Flame froze and I felt betrayed as my eyes wouldn't let me cry as I saw the murderous scene take place before me. Angel walked toward Flame and as the scythe came in contact with Flame, blood splattered against the window where my hand was. I saw Flame's body drop to the dark green ground and saw the grass' beauty get tainted by the color of fresh blood. Through the bloody window I could see Flame's eyes dull as death took her away and I saw her eyes gain a misted look; she was dead.

Angel's eyes returned, filled with her usual childish innocence. I felt like my heart would explode from seeing her back away, shrieking. She had tears running down her face.

Slowly, I withdrew my hand and saw that the blood was on my hands, while Angel's whole appearance was untainted by Flame's blood. I watched as the blood slid down my glove and onto the darkened floor. My world was spinning, nothing made sense as I saw Angel glare at me through the window.

_**"You did this. You're the murderer! I hope Hell never takes you back!!"**_

The darkness lifted as a bright light surrounded me, threatening to vanquish me to a place much worse than Hell, much worse than Heaven. I felt myself disappear as two hands swiftly grabbed my arms and a calm voice said, "Chaos Control."

**--- The Chaotix Detective Agency ---**

"And that's how we know you. That's why we need your help. Please... please believe us," I heard Angel whimper out. My eyes slowly opened to the sight of Espio looking at me in shock.

"She's awake."

Then I saw everyone surround me with shocked expressions.

"She's... crying?"

"Sinister? What happened? Why are you crying?" Mighty questioned as he helped me sit up.

I put a hand to my face and I really did realize that I was in fact crying. I wiped the tears away and shooked my head.

"No reason... nightmare."

Angel tensed up as she saw Apple walk toward me. I expected Apple to be angry with me, to yell at me at that moment in time; what was unexpected from her was when she held me in an embrace as she cried.

"I never knew! I never knew that was what happened!!"

I looked at Angel, "what did you tell them?"

"... Everything. I told them about Dark, about Spirit... even about Rogue. I explained what happened and what we prevented from happening," Angel replied sadly.

Charmy seemed a bit hyper at the moment but even his hyperactive spree didn't stop him from commenting, "yeah and she also told us about Hell! And how we were there!"

"That's right."

Angel tilted her head, "you seem a bit distracted."

"I'm just confused. What the hell-"

"Please don't swear..." Ocean whispered.

I sweatdropped as I restated, "What just happened to me?"

"It's when more than one vision of the future comes to you and it's not suppose to happen for a long time."

"You mean... I can see the future?"

"Sure you can."

Vector then cleared his throat and asked, "how exactly can she see the future?"

"... It's where her bloodline resides."

"What's that suppose to mean? Espy! I'm confused!" Charmy exclaimed.

Espio sighed with irritation as he grabbed Charmy from the air and put him on the couch, "sit there. Stop flying around like a maniac. What she means is that whom ever are her parents are the reason why she's seeing things before they happen."

"Oh... thanks for clearing that up Espio!"

I almost wanted to cry for the second to third time that same moment as I looked at Angel. I connected the dots. Something would happen to me, Angel would have to take my place thanks to the fact that behind me she's destined to take my position, and as a result she would have to kill Flame and other people that were involved. Now that she told them everything... that just made them more of a victim than an innocent bystander. The feeling of the horror that would come... it was fear. I knew I was safe as long as Apple and Angel were around... but how long as I going to be safe? How long was anyone going to be safe with me around?

"We believe you."

We all looked at Espio who seemed deep in thought.

"Besides, if someone attacked you then it's our job as a detective agency to protect you and to get to the bottom of it," Vector added in as Charmy flew up to his shoulder and sat down.

"Where do we start though?"

I sighed and remarked, "that's very nice of you guys to take on this case... but don't."

"What?! Why?!" Angel suddenly yelped out as she looked at me with wide eyes.

"Because if we do let them help then it'll be the end of us all," I whispered to Angel. The butterfly's eyes widened and I could tell she got the message.

"No way! We're not backing down now that you've told us about everything."

I could feel someone's glare on me. I turned and I saw two people glaring at me. Hailey and Ocean; of course they had every right to stare at me. Hearing that I had a connection with the Angel of Death, the person that took Ocean's mother, and Hailey's whole family away from them, it's no wonder why they were staring at me with hatred.

Mighty caught my attention at the duo and just like that the hatred left as the duo appeared as equally confused as Charmy had just a few minutes ago. I stood up and picked up my scythe that was propped up against the end of the couch.

"I'm sorry if we were a burden to you. But I need you to watch Angel and Apple for me."

Apple glared at me, "No way! We're not leaving you behind after what just happened to you!"

I found myself growling as I told her slowly and angrily, "... I... don't need to be watched over!"

"Yes you do! What if something bad happens to you!!??"

The question caught me off guard, and I soon found that out as I started to glow.

"I took care of Angel and myself for years! Why would I need to be watched over now of all times!?"

"You don't get it! If something happens to you then that means I won't know what to do!"

I lifted my hand angrily shouted, "I CAN HANDLE MYSELF!"

I felt numerous hands grabbing me to prevent me from moving, and I started to glow brighter and brighter until one voice pierced my ears.

"S-stop... stop it right now Sinister."

Angel...

"Don't... don't leave like Espio would've. Don't leave us. Please... if you leave and you wind up dead... I... I-"

Angel fell to the ground and started to cry. I stopped glowing as I fell to my knees. My head was pulsing with pain as I felt my eyes betraying me once more. Why? Had she seen what would happen to her and I? Was it more than just a nightmare of Angel becoming something I hate to be?

I then got up as everyone let go. Carefully, I lifted Angel and hugged her. I walked around the room patting Angel and trying to calm her down, "I'm sorry... I lost my temper again... I won't let it happen again... Angel. Shh... I promise, I'll be fine and nothing will ever happen to you. I won't let you take my place if anything should happen."

"But nothing will! You know better than to throw yourself in front of danger!"

I smiled, Angel was right. I wouldn't jump in front of a bullet if I had another option. Never would I. I hugged her tightly and put her on the ground.

"You're right. I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?"

Angel brightened up as she nodded, "sure I do! I can't stay mad at you!"

Apple grinned as she walked over, "and I'm sorry for yelling, there was no need for it. I just wouldn't know what to-"

"I know. I'm sorry that I made the conversation worse though."

Just like that we all just laughed it off while everyone else just stared at us like we were all insane.

"Okay... fine. I won't leave though. Not yet anyways."

Apple seemed happy by that and Espio walked over to us and quietly asked, "so what do we do now?"

"I recommend going somewhere else, so that way if anyone should come the agency doesn't get utterly destroyed," Hailey said.

Ocean held Mighty's hand as she looked at Charmy who was still on Vector's shoulder. It was one of those times when things seemed to be positive. For that long moment there was no yelling, no arguing, it was just us getting along for a few seconds... that was until the lights suddenly turned off.

No one said or moved as we listened to our surrounding. Glass being shattered and of two sets of feet hitting the ground made my heart race. Angel looked at me and at everyone else.

"See anything?" I whispered.

She nodded. She pointed to Charmy and Ocean, "they're in danger."

"Angel... I know I told you not that I wouldn't leave but get the hell out of here with everyone else."

"No!"

I heard the footsteps running down the stairs and I saw only two shadowy figures. I couldn't tell them apart, but only one held a familiar vibe. I growled, "Angel-"

Angel told everyone, "RUN!"

They seemed to dart out of the door faster than Sonic ever could as Angel and myself stood in front of them. I held my scythe and she glowed with magic that spelt out time was going to stop.

"Fire Burst!"

The shadowy figures shrieked as fire crosses slammed into them and made them fly to the otherside of the room. From the stairs, a metallic orange swallow appeared. Her hair was in a pony tail, her clothes tattered and her blue eyes looked helpful and full of pride.

"Flame!"

"Good thing I was near by."

"They're not done attacking."

We turned and saw that Angel was right as usual. They got up and glared at us with bright, blood thirsty red eyes. I spun my scythe in my hand for a few seconds before teleporting over to the duo demons and slashing at them while Angel held them in place. Flame even helped and started to send fire balls at them by the dozen. In no time the demons were gone.

"What were those things?"

"Demons."

"Pardon?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Don't think I'm stupid! I've heard that I was part of the whole thing that happened to the Chaotix."

"How'd you hear?" Angel asked.

Before Flame could respond I interrupted, "you saw it happen. You got curious and came here where you heard Angel talk about it. Then you decided to help."

Flame blinked, dumbfounded as she finally nodded.

"How did you know that Sinister? Did your powers tell you?"

I was about to shake my head until Flame interrupted saying, "that was just a lucky guess!"

"Since we don't have to go over the introductions and anything else, just listen. Hailey was right. We need to get out of here."

"Where do we go from here though?" Angel and Flame both questioned.

I thought for a long moment and smirked as a name and place came into mind.

"I know some people. Tell everyone to pack up anything they need and to come with us. We're going to visit Fate."

**---**

**And there's the chapter for you guys. Okay just to clear this up quickly, the first part of the chapter was Sinister's dream. And if you guys remember from Friends Forever about Sinister being the descendant of Shadow and the ancestor to Silver then you'd get the whole "it's where her bloodline resides" ordeal. Um... next chapter you'll see who Fate is! Hope you guys liked this chapter! Please, I'm open to your guys' opinions!**


	4. Visit Gone Wrong

Hey guys! I've tossed ideas up in the air for the past week and I think I have finally found out how the visit with Fate is going to go out. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter and don't forget to tell me what you think of the chapter!

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own all the OC's mentioned in the last chapter and she owns Fate the Fox, Rogue and Cecelia the Demons.

Drum roll please! Chapter Three of Family Matters has arrived!

* * *

**Chapter Three: Visit Gone Wrong**

Dawn had arrived faster than usual, but no one cared in West Side Island about how quickly or how slow the sun rose to paint the sky, mainly because most people were fast asleep, caught up in their dreams of how the new year would go out. Everyone would be in a dream world... but one refused to sleep, no matter how late she had stayed up.

Inside the lonesome house that resided on the outskirt of West Side Island, sitting on a large cream colored rug was a young fox that stared at the rising sun as though it was an interesting program on TV. Through her trance of watching, Fate sighed as she stood up slowly.

Within a few seconds the door was knocked on. Fate frowned as she walked to the door and was about to open it... until she froze and her breath was caught in her throat.

_"No... _she's _alive? Let alone _he's_ alive and with her? I sense danger... for... you've got to be kidding me!"_ Fate found herself thinking as she backed away from the door. Suddenly the door swung open and two shadow figures were visible as the orange sky made them stick out.

"My dear Fate. We meet again. I am sure you have met up with my counterpart?"

Fate backed away with slight fear; she was about the size of a five year old and compared to the two figures, she was very small.

"Rogue... what the hell are you doing here?" she growled with a venomous tone.

"Is that any way to talk to the person who summoned me? No wonder why you did Master Rogue. She holds no respect, no discipline, no manners toward her superiors."

"_Master_? Ha! You never took any orders before. What did he do to get you to list-"

Fate let out a pained gasp as Rogue picked her up and slammed her into a wall with a glass cabinet. She felt the glass shatter as soon as she hit it and she could've sworn she felt a piece go through her. Looking into Rogue's stone grey eyes, she could see anger and hatred pulsing through him as though it was blood. She held back a shriek as she was thrown across the room and the shadow mistress jumped above her and kicked her.

"C-Cel... AH!!" Fate screamed out in pain as Rogue grabbed her by her tail and showed her his clawed fingers.

"I am the prophet of Hell and-"

"You mean was. You're not anymore! We've got a better prophet and one that will never turn against us!"

"Silence!"

Fate felt herself get slammed into the ground and she felt warmth leave her; she was bleeding badly from the wound in her back and a small gash started to form on her head. The shadow mistress looked at Fate as she snapped her fingers. Rogue took on the form of a chameleon and she took on the form of an armadillo.

"Ah, that's better. Thank you mistress Cecelia."

"It was no problem Master Rogue."

Fate saw images of disaster, of betrayal enter her mind's eye and she struggled to get out of Rogue's hold.

"LET ME GO!!"

Rogue and Cecelia stared at Fate as she started to whimper and cry very loud.

"Glad she chose to live in a place so-"

Rogue was suddenly cut off as the door was forced open and a red armadillo, Mighty, ran toward Fate's desperate cries. Rogue was slammed with a punch and his grip on Fate instantly loosened as he flew through a window.

"Cheap shot."

Mighty was stopped and he looked at the figure with wide, tear filled eyes. He couldn't believe who he was seeing.

"C-Celia..."

"It's Cecelia now!"

"So what? It's just a two letter difference," commented Flame as she and Angel hung upside down from the ceiling. Running through the door was Vector, Charmy, Apple, Hailey and Ocean, while Espio appeared by the window with his kunais in an easy to reach place, and I teleported inside next to Mighty.

No one moved as we all looked at Celia... erm, Cecelia. She had changed a great deal since I last saw her, since Mighty had last saw her. She had once been bright blue, almost like Ocean, but now her shell was painted such a dark violet that it appeared to be black, and her eyes that were a royal blue were now pulsing blood red as we studied her. Turning away from the strange sight, I saw Fate who was glaring at me with hatred in her eyes; looks like our rivalry hadn't ended, even if it would be for a few moments.

It was until Rogue came through the way he had been punched out that all chaos was let loose. Everyone started to attack the invaders, and shrieks from everyone were heard at least once or twice throughout the battle.

Cecelia was fighting the Chaotix, Apple and Hailey, while the rest of us were pouring our hearts and souls into defeating Rogue. I sort of lost track of how the battle between Cecelia was going but all I knew was that we were getting our butts handed to us. It was when Ocean was held up in the air by Rogue when things started to get slightly interesting.

"Let me go!"

"TIME FREEZE!!"

The scene froze and Angel darted over to Fate.

"Are you okay?"

"You're asking me that in the middle of a battle?!" Fate questioned with her voice filled with concern and worry.

"Listen. Help us out."

"Hmph. Like I would help a traitor like Sin-"

"Please... Sinister doesn't mean any harm, in fact, if we don't help her out she could wind up in a worse place than Hell," Angel explained quietly.

Fate blinked as she looked at me. Sure she hated me, and she had every right to hate me just like the majority population of mobians hated me, but... could she really live without me around to hate? Apparently not because she turned to Angel and sighed.

"Fine. Just this once."

Angel smiled as she followed Fate toward the glass cabinet that was shattered thanks to Rogue slamming her into it. Out of the glass wreckage, she took out a large ninja sword.

"Unfreeze this."

"You sure?"

"Positive. Just do it."

Angel nodded as she unfroze the scene. Rogue looked at Cecelia who had been hit with a kunai. As she yelped in pain, Mighty froze trying to get Ocean out of Rogue's grip and was met with my scythe on accident. I looked at my scythe as I realized that I saw Rogue in Mighty's position.

What was going on with me?

"DADDY!!"

I dropped my scythe as I stared at Rogue. Pain filled me and I felt like I was on fire as I stumbled backwards. The black chameleon, Rogue, saw this moment as his chance. He tossed Ocean toward Mighty as he darted to me and lifted me into the air with his clawed fingers wrapped around my neck.

"Traitor. How delightful to meet you again."

"You were vanquished. H-how... th-did..."

Rogue smirked as he examined me in his clawed hands, "poor thing. A fever. What happened to you never getting sick? Don't tell me the Angel of Death hates you too."

I growled as I kicked Rogue in the place where it would hurt any man to be kicked... but he didn't fall to the ground squealing in pain or anything like that. He just blinked and glared at me.

"Honestly now. Is that any way to treat your superior?"

Looking down I saw that one of his clawed hands was about to stab me, fear racing through me I closed my eyes and waited for the pain. Moments, no... minutes passed and nothing seemed to have changed. Did Angel use Time Freeze and made it so I wouldn't be killed?

"What's her temperature Hail?"

I opened my eyes to see that Fate's wounds had been treated, that Cecelia and Rogue weren't there anymore... and I was on the ground with ice on my head and neck. During my daze I stared up at Fate and realized that she had changed too. Instead of being like normal foxes with bright orange fur, she had changed it so it was a blood red color and the tips of her tail was pure black. Her eyes struck me with daggers as her pale silver eyes glared at me slightly. Suddenly something was taken out of my mouth and when I heard what Hailey said it made my heart nearly stop.

"104 degrees. It rose."

"Her pulse just stopped..." a few seconds passed and I felt my pulse returning and heard Ocean sigh with relief, "nevermind. She's got her pulse back."

"Sin, don't you dare go unconscious again!"

"Wha..."

A hand was placed over my mouth and the coldness of that hand made my body shiver. My eyes met up with Apple's who seemed to be beyond furious.

"Don't talk either!"

Glancing at Angel and the rest of them I saw that no one looked me directly in the eyes, nor did they talk to me. Fate was the only one along with Angel who actually seemed to care about me. My eyes felt heavy... like stone... and darkness concealed me in a blanket of sleep; and only the sound of Apple's panicky voice echoed in my mind as dreams flooded me.

**--- Hours Later ---**

In my dream I remember being underwater, I had many wounds and I had no chance of survival. What stopped me from sinking completely? A hand. It was encased in metal and the eyes I met up with were pure yellow. I felt scared when I saw the figure. The scene switched to when I'm on land and asking, "who are you?"

Suddenly the dream ended there as I woke up to see I was in a large tub of ice. Shivering, I squealed and ran out of the bathroom only to hit a wall as I tried to make a turn. Rubbing my head I started running until two people caught me.

I was crying again as I buried my face into one of the people's shoulder, "d-don't let me go!" I cried with fear.

"Um... Shadow?"

"That's not Shadow... it sounds too girly to be Shadow," I heard one of the people remark.

The hands instantly let me go and I dropped to the ground. Instantly I regained composure as I looked up at the too familiar eyes of Sonic and Tails.

"You're Sinister right?" Tails asked me as he helped me up to my feet.

"Y-yes."

"Wow... what happened to you? You're a mess."

"I... don't..." I stopped then quickly asked, "where is everyone else?!"

Tails and Sonic's expression sort of fell into sadness as they explained to me how everyone had seen Fate's prediction of the future, how I was to die because of everyone else. So they abandoned me in a tub of ice and hoped for the better. Sonic then explained that they had to check on me and see if my fever had gone down enough for me to start travelling again.

"It looks like you gained your strength back though."

"T-travel where though?"

"The Chaotix didn't say. They only said to check up on a black hedgehog with silver streaks, we came and you sort of ran into us."

Bowing, I quickly apologized. Then I gasped as I ran into the living room, "ANGEL!"

There really was no one there, except for Sonic and Tails. I saw their eyes fill with sympathy and worry as I looked around frantically for Angel. For some sign that Angel or even Fate was still around. My fears had been brought to life as I fell to my knees and started to cry again; I was alone... something... I hated the most.

Sonic and Tails knelt down beside me and comforted me. Soon though I regained my composure once more and I sighed as I snapped my fingers and my scythe appeared in my hands. Slowly and shakily I stood up and used my scythe for support.

"You don't know where you're going though right?"

"Don't remind me. Yes though, you're right. I mean, they didn't leave me a letter... I can't say that I'm happy they left even though they probably saved me in the process..."

Tails shook his head, "I don't know. I mean, doesn't it seem weird that you're alone and everyone who cared about you left?"

I shook my head but then something came out of my mouth that I never expected to come out, "Apple."

"You want an apple? At a time like this?"

I then asked, "where the hell is Apple!? She's a hybrid between a fox and a raccoon. Now did you see her? She's green with light gold eyes."

The duo shook their head and I wanted to swear. But then I started to run back to the tub of ice that had melted into water. I stuck my head in along with one hand and I felt myself getting pulled out.

"What are you doing?"

"Tails, let me go!"

"Why though?"

"It's a gut instinct. Now let me go before I chaos spear you off," I threatened and the yellow fox listened to me. I repeated until I gasped fresh air and held a laminated note. It was badly written and I knew whose handwriting it was almost right off the back.

_Sinister,_

_I'm so sorry. But Fate says if we don't leave soon, then you're in danger. Actually you and a couple other people are in danger (not including Sonic or Tails). When you went unconscious, Cecelia and Rogue nearly killed you, but luckily for anthros to be quick healers right? Anyways, besides the point. Fate's taking Flame, Apple, and the rest of us to some strange place that I can't spell. Sorry I can't tell you about it. She just says its got a nice beach and it's always nighttime. She says that you'd know the way there because that's where the Angel of Death first found you all those years before you became an apprentice. So you have to go there! If you don't, I'm sure that Cecelia and Rogue will find us and kill us before we tell them where you are... please... I don't want to lose my family like Charmy did once. Please... find us. _

_From,_

_Angel._

_P.S- I'm glad that you found this. Fate said you'd have a dream about water and refer back to it to find this. So if you're reading it, I'm glad. Be safe._

"Um, why did you want to know where Apple was?"

"It... I honestly don't know. I just had a bad feeling about her that's all. But I'm sure when I find her then I'll find out why my feelings feel so bad."

"Huh... weird. So are we ready to go?"

"_We_? You're coming?"

"Sure am!" replied Sonic in his carefree tone of voice. A part of me wanted to groan, but that was Shadow's bloodline talking to me. I shrugged it off and grinned.

"As long as you guys don't get in my way, I'm fine with it."

"I don't know why... maybe it's how you look, but you remind us of Shadow," Tails remarked.

I spun my scythe around in my hand and smiled, "hm. I guess I can explain a few things on the way there."

"Not to seem like a pest, but where is 'there'?"

Minutes passed again and I frowned, "I... don't remember."

"How long has it been? I mean you look like you're only seventeen so not that long right?"

I sighed and explained, "you see. I'm actually older than I appear to be. For all I know, I could be hundreds of years old!"

"Hun... dreds?"

"Years old?"

Rolling my eyes I laughed.

"Relax. Um... listen, if you guys help me out and find this place, then I'll give you one favor each. So... do we have a deal?"

The duo grinned, "you bet! Can we use one of those favors though?"

"Right now? We haven't even left West Side Island yet!"

"We know. But... if we're looking for a place, then we should get someone here to help. Um... you know Shadow-"

"No."

"Huh? Why?"

I grimaced when I recalled what he tried to do when he found out what my occupation was.

"Perhaps later? I honestly don't want to meet up with my ancestor at the moment. I promise though, I will fufill that favor in the future but not now."

They shrugged and seemed confused by why I would refuse such a favor like that. I walked toward the exit and said, "oh... one other thing. If there ever is a moment where none of you can find me, or there's extreme danger... don't stick around. Run away as fast as you can. Got it? No matter what."

Tails looked at Sonic who in return smirked, "got'cha."

As we walked out of Fate's house and as I held onto my scythe for support because of my loss of balance, I realized that this was a whole new adventure. But at the same time, the feeling of something horrible happening to the others filled my mind with endless possibilities. Along with those possibilities came questions.

... What did Fate actually see while I was unconscious? Why were Sonic and Tails called upon instead of anyone else? And what did that last dream mean? Nothing probably, that was my thought when we walked down the path toward the sleeping city of West Side Island.

... But time loves to make us feel safe, to soften the blow; and destiny always is cruel. Those dreams did mean something, and I found out too late.

**---**

**Oh my Chaos! I sometimes wish my cousin didn't visit me every other day! This is my second time writing this and I'm surprised that I had the attention span to write it all over again for... um four hours. So yep there's the chapter for you guys. I know everything in this chapter seems a bit confusing but you'll see exactly what's going to happen in the next chapters to come. So until then, hope you enjoyed it!**


	5. Prophecy

Hey guys! Just wanted to present the next chapter to Family Matters. Um, all I can say is that this chapter has survived being erased like my other chapters before it has! It's a miracle, and a record! Anyways, I digress. Tell me what you guys think and I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own the OCs' mentioned in the other chapters and Spades the Cat.

Me: You're getting lazy again Disclaimer

Disclaimer: You'd be lazy too with all the names of the different characters.

Me: Whatever. Here's the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Prophecy**

Darkness was their main weapon, and their most prized ally as the blazing afternoon sun vanished behind the horizon of a shadowed wasteland. The only sign that there had once been trees, bushes and even the most delicate flowers was the black ash that seemed to dull the dark green grass that was even getting burned itself. Why? Rogue was mad.

The clawed demon couldn't believe that he had been taken completely off guard! Even though he wasn't injured in the fight, Rogue still felt like he had been stabbed by Sinister's scythe. How could he have not seen that coming? Perhaps he did and didn't pay attention to it? Rogue didn't care anymore, he was just angry as hell that they managed to chase Cecelia and himself out of the house before they could kill Sinister.

That event at Fate's home led to Rogue, in his dark chameleon form, pacing on the ash covered ground and Cecelia watching him pace as though it was better than watching TV.

"Those brats won't be able to stop us next time," Cecelia told Rogue in a reassuring tone. Rogue however blocked out Cecelia's words.

_"I failed. Sinister was to die on New Years, but she didn't! What was I thinking taking Cecelia over and expecting her to kill? Cecelia, even though she's a demon now, still has her old self's weak heart. We need a new ally."_

Rogue stopped pacing and saw that Cecelia looked thoughtful.

"Rogue, mind telling me again what the prophecy this time is?"

"I already told you so many times before. Did you honestly forget again?"

Cecelia looked a bit ashamed and that was enough for Rogue to understand that she did forget. The dark chameleon just sighed as he took a seat and stared at Cecelia with his stone grey eyes.

"One last time and that's it."

Rogue put a hand on the ground and his eyes began to glow. He levitated off the ground and began chanting a small passage.

_Fate is the eyes that sees all,_

_Along side her are those who controls death and life._

_In the darkness there's a call,_

_A cry for help as the harvester's duties are put in the line of strife._

_Watching as the project's granddaughter feels herself fall,_

_Then watch as the darkness grows tall,_

_While the light's life disappears._

After that passage was said, Rogue returned to normal and landed gracefully on the ground.

"And that's the passage."

"Project's?"

"Sinister is the decendent of Project Shadow. So of course that's how I was able to figure out that it was refering to Sinister," Rogue explained.

Cecelia smirked, "so if we kill Sinister, then we become the rulers of Hell?"

"Correct. And when Sinister and Charmy are killed then I'll have free reign over all of Mobius and Hell."

The armadillo then paused for a moment and asked, "how is Charmy involved?"

"Simple, his family is involved with my very presence."

"How so?"

Rogue seemed to have a reminiscing face on as he told Cecelia, "I was not always the prophet of Hell, but once upon a time I was a young warrior. I had gone astray from the rest of my gang so I took refugee with the king and queen of the Honey Comb Colony. As you can imagine that gave me a lot of time to know the place inside and outside. But I found one of my companions on my travels with Charmy. He then told me how they were going to attack, and to give the child back to the king and queen; they believed that there would be no way to save Charmy. But they found a way and because of that, Charmy must be eliminated."

"There's another reason too isn't there?"

"The bee ruined my chances last time. Before time was reset. And now revenge is in order."

Cecelia seemed to be understanding toward Rogue.

"And what about the others? Angel... what is that butterfly's role in this?"

"She's a wild card out of the deck. If say, someone like Fate dies or is unable to fulfill her duties, then Angel takes control. So if Sinister dies, Angel's ability to take control over the position is destroyed because the Angel of Life has influence on her, which explains why the Angel of Death hates her."

"So if we kill Sinister-"

"Then no one will be able to take over her position and the powers of Hell and Heaven will fall. Leaving us the only ones able to take control. Just you and me, the prophet of Hell and his wife."

Rogue laughed with Cecelia and the darkness seemed to bring out the evilness in their eyes; but among the branches of the trees that hadn't been burned down yet were a pair of red specked eyes. But before the duo could catch the aura that would belong to the red specked eyes, the figure was already gone.

**--- Somewhere in Casinopolis ---**

The dark sky seemed to cast an unwelcoming aura to me as Sonic, Tails and myself came closer to Casinopolis; the city where games of chance and risk take place, and where some people find themselves going into bankrupt because they've gambled more than they make at their jobs. Lights from clubs and local inns seemed to leave me wondering why there were even street lights since the clubs could brighten up the streets enough to see.

"So this is Casinopolis," I said absentmindedly.

"Yep."

I looked around and I couldn't help but to shrug, "I don't see why people wind up going here for vacations. It reeks of money being wasted."

"It's fun once you get used to how the games go."

"Whatever. We're not here to play card games and gamble though, we're here to take a short cut."

"I thought you didn't know where we were suppose to go," Tails remarked.

"I remember how to get halfway there, after that I'm pretty useless. Now come on! We're almost half way-"

"Hey! Theif!! CATCH HIM!!"

We turned and saw a young cat running toward us. Sonic and Tails jumped out of the way but the cat ran past me swiftly. As he did, I saw his hands concealed in metal gaunlets.

"GET HIM!!"

I then started to feel like I had seen those hands before. Then it hit me; my dream revealed those hands once before. Before anyone could say anything I ran as fast as I could and caught up with the cat.

"HEY! STOP!" I shouted as I grabbed the cat's hand.

Surprise filled the black eyes with red specks that belonged to the cat as he lost his balance and the duo both fell to the sidewalk. Guns were pointed at the cat and I.

"Freeze!"

"Huh?"

"You idiot!" the cat shouted angrily.

"Spades, you're under arrest with this... erm... what is your name?"

"Wait you're arresting me for helping you guys out?" I questioned with slight irritation.

"'fraid so. You interfered and we don't know if you're his partner or not."

"She's not! She came with us," Tails said quickly as he ran to my defense.

The officer didn't look like he believed Tails nor myself. Anger started to build up as I suddenly asked, "are you a bunch of morons?"

"Sinister!"

The officer's face lit up with rage as he slapped me across the face, earning a gasp and angered glare from Sonic and Tails. I growled and resisted the urge to take out my scythe and slice and dice that creep officer.

Handcuffs snapped around one of my wrists along with the cat, "you're both under arrest. You have the right to remain silent-"

"Too bad I also have the right to keep on talking! Freedom of speech, search it up," I retorted miserably before he shoved us into the car and drove off, leaving Sonic and Tails looking worried.

**--- Jail ---**

Silence lingered in the air as the officer was sleeping outside of where the actual jail cells were. I sat on the floor while Spades the cat claimed the bed that I swear was made of concrete. And unfortunate for us, we were still attached to each other by the handcuffs.

"This is all your fault," he told me as he glared at me with daggers dipped in poison. It was times like this that I wish I had Angel to reverse this whole thing from happening. The worse part is that none of it made sense. Why would I, a helpful bystander, be thrown in jail for catching this theif?

"Didn't you hear me?"

"Yes. Now if you would be so kind as to shut up."

Spades' black eyes scared me because of the red specks. His wardrobe was a strange hat that could've been a top hat like the guitarist Slash would've worn but it had playing cards attached to it and he wore a large black trench coat that had a spade painted in pure white paint. I felt insignificant at that moment but that didn't stop me from standing up and walking over to the wall, which resulted in Spades being dragged along.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously as he watched me take out my scythe.

"I said shut up. That guard will hear us."

Spades was obedient as far as I could tell since he stayed quiet as he was forced to stand next to me. I then tapped my scythe against the wall and smiled as I found out something. I could teleport through it.

"I know how to get out of here."

"Good for you," Spades muttered sadly. I looked at him, why I felt so compelled to bring him along I wasn't sure, but maybe he could help me find where I had to go.

"Who said I was going to leave you behind?"

Spades looked up with wide eyes, "you're getting me out of here?"

"Sure, as long as you promise to help me out. Besides I feel like I-"

"If you get me out of here, I'll tell you about two people that were talking about you."

That caught me off guard.

"What?"

"Two people, a chameleon and an armadillo were talking about you earlier," Spades said with hopeful eyes.

Could I honestly trust those eyes? Were they lying? How did he know about Rogue and Cecelia? Was he an ally to them? Footsteps were heard heading toward our cell. There wasn't any time to wonder about something like that. I teleported the both of us out of that small cell before the guard could even come anywhere close to it.

When we got out, I realized we teleported to a small hill outside of the town. I grinned as I just achieved a personal record of teleporting.

Turning to Spades who was forced to follow me, no matter where I went, I looked at the handcuffs.

"Looks like we're stuck like this for a while."

"... Um..."

"Which means you tell me all that you saw and I'll try to get us separated. Got it?" I told him and he nodded before looking very uneasy.

"Quick question."

"Which is?"

Spades' cheeks turned pink and I felt scared to know what he was thinking.

"What happens if we have to go the bathroom and we haven't been separated?"

"We'll figure something out."

"..."

I stopped and squealed with disgust, "you have to go now don't you?!"

Spades nodded and I felt myself shiver with disgust again. I ran and he was forced to follow me, "then talk fast. Once you're done I'll separate us."

I could tell that Spades needed to go and fast, so the words spilled out of his mouth so quickly I barely caught any of the words. But there was only one part that caught my complete attention...

The prophecy of what would happen if I was killed. And that left me with one problem and unfortunately I feared that Spades had just been dragged into it.

Rogue and Cecelia were still after me. They would kill me too, and if I died then chances are bad things will follow. Anger raged inside me as though I was a wild animal in a cage, and Rogue and Cecelia were the hunters threatening to kill me if I didn't calm down.

Then I realized why I always felt so horrible in the past.

Because I've been trapped in that cage with people pointing their weapons at me for centuries. I was always blamed for everything, and now those demons had a reason to show anyone to get a new ally. Just in case no one understood, here's how I can say it in a language anyone could understand:

I. Am. So. Dead.

**---**

**Okay so that's the chapter this time! Um, yea... the last part about Spades needing to go was my cousin's idea. I promised her that an idea of her's would be used so that way she wouldn't erase my stories. And it worked, she hasn't tried to erase this chapter at all. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy it and feel free to tell me what you guys think.**


	6. Crossing Lines Part One

Hey guys! Thanks for your support and reviews, it gave me a lot to think about, unfortunately I haven't gotten a lot of sleep because of it. So I guess I'll be a bit off on some details. When you've only gotten about... five hours of sleep each night, it sorta has a effect on you. Anyways, I digress. Hope you guys enjoy this next chapter to Family Matters and please tell me what you guys think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her usual OCs mentioned in the story so far. Like... Sinister the Hedgehog, Spades the Cat... um... Toxin the Hedgehog is a new one too!

Me: Enough!

Disclaimer: ...Now you wonder why sleep is important...

Presenting Chapter Five!

* * *

**Chapter Five: Crossing Lines Part One**

It seemed like torture, almost like Fate knew that I would meet someone as stubborn as me. For five hours straight, Spades and myself had done nothing but argue. The topic that started it? The handcuffs that kept us together.

Originally, Spades had figured out that I was the Angel of Death's apprentice when I explained to him who the two people that he had eavesdropped on were, how they were demons bent on killing me and anyone around me. Spades, like anyone else would think that I could do anything; even remove a pair of handcuffs from our wrists. That's when the opposite happened.

"What!? You can't remove these?!"

"That's right."

"What the hell!! You're the Angel of Death's apprentice! Can't you do something as simple as remove handcuffs??" Spades questioned me in an angered tone. I couldn't blame him. I killed people for a living, erm... used to, and I couldn't do something as simple as remove handcuffs. The worse part was I had no idea why I couldn't.

That was the spark that led to a wildfire between us; everything from our opinions and other ideas that came to our minds were always shot down from the sky as though a hunter was shooting birds out of the sky. The very idea of that gave me shivers and I knew that Spades wouldn't shut up unless we took a break. The first one in five hours.

"We're stopping-"

"No we're going to keep going until we reach the halfway mark," Spades said as he kept pulling me along.

"Sorry to burst your bubble there but we've passed the halfway mark about... three and a half hours ago."

Spades stopped and glared at me, "you mean to tell me we've been travelling for the past few hours for nothing?!"

I felt scared that he would attack me, but I pushed my fear aside as I nodded. He glared at me, but what separated this glare from the previous one was this one was laced with poison and armed with daggers. Shivers shot up my spine as I dragged him back, "come on. We won't get anywhere if you yell at me for making such a dumb mistake."

"But-"

"Argue with me and I'll make sure your name gets added to the Death List."

**--- A little while later ---**

As the fire flickered with very little life, I felt that the flames mimicked what would become of me if anything were to happen to my friends. That as they vanished from my sight that I would soon grow weak until I would die out. That was what the flame did as Spades was sleeping against a tree.

I was suppose to wake him up over two hours ago, but a part of me told me to let him sleep. He would need it if we ever got attacked.

As the smoke rose from the pile of burnt wood, I could feel irritation and anger threatening to make me scream or to cry. To argue with someone for a long time does that to you, but it wasn't what made that urge stronger than usual; it was the fact that no one was around to tell me things were going to be better and that we'd get this thing sorted out.

_"Angel..." _I thought sadly until I looked at Spades. _"... He looks so peaceful. Perhaps because even though he acts all tough, he's still a little kid inside, a child that still has the essence of innocence?"_

The thought instantly perished as I considered him being a child on the inside. It was an impossible statement that I would never be able to prove true.

_**SNAP**_

My ears twitched as the loud sound echoed through the forest Spades and I were in. Fear suddenly ran through my veins as though it was my own blood, but the last time I checked, my blood wasn't ice cold, it never burned me before... it seemed almost inhumane to feel as scared as I did.

"What'd you do?" Spades muttered, earning me to squeal in fright. His eyes were suddenly alert, prepared to lock onto anything. But his red specked eyes locked onto me and for a moment I thought he was going to yell at me, to tell me that I was overreacting.

"I-I d-d-"

My voice was lost in the possibilities as to what caused the snap. What made my voice disappear completely from my voice box was when he said, "don't be so scared. It's just a forest after all. Wanna keep travelling now? Or do you need some rest?"

He sounded more careful with his choice of words, even more thoughtful as he studied me for any signs of weariness, any signs that I would collapse from exhaustion. He got up and I felt a bit strange, why would he not call me a scaredy hedgehog or something weird like that when it was apparent that maybe I was overreacting?

"L-Lets keep moving," I quickly replied as he helped me up to my feet. He adjusted his top hat and he started to lead the way. Unfortunately, I was dragged right along to which ever direction he was going in.

It wasn't until a while later that we realized that we had been going around in circles.

"Did you sleep too long? We took another wrong turn!"

"Look who's talking! You didn't get any sleep and you're just as worse as I am with directions!"

"At least I can tell we've been going around in circles."

"Okay miss "I'm so much better than you" why didn't you tell me that the first time around?" he asked me with a bitter tone.

I frowned, "no reason."

"What is this to you? A game?"

"M-"

_**SNAAP!! CRACK!**_

The word that wanted to come out of my mouth vanished without a trace as both Spades and myself looked around. Of course the only thing we'd see would be trees and dark green grass.

"Who's there?!" Spades yelled as he took out a playing card from his hat, "I have a card and I'm not afraid to use it!"

"Oh wow a card. What do you think they are? Wimps?"

He cast me a dark glare and it wasn't until the light spear nearly hit Spades that the glare disappeared. He yelped and started to try and run away. I sighed but looking at where the spear hit I felt as though the energy used to making that was very familiar.

"Chaos energy? Here? By who?"

"Chaos Spear!"

I shoved Spades to the ground and I went down with him as several spears flew past our heads and slammed into the trees. Spades looked at me with a furious glance.

"Are you crazy!?"

"Who just saved your life!?"

"Argumentive aren't you?" a voice asked us. We looked up and we saw a black hedgehog with red streaks. My heart froze when my eyes locked with the pure red ones that belonged to my ancestor, Shadow.

"Sh-Shadow..."

The hedgehog didn't look happy to see us, nor did he look angry to see me; after all, the Maria incident still haunted him, I knew that and it haunted me since I was the one who had to take her away from him. Fear rose in my heart again, causing my heart to nearly stop. But instead of being met with chaos spears directed at us, we were met with Shadow's gloved hands.

"Come on."

We each took a hand and were pulled to our feet. My heart didn't stop beating but it didn't slow down either.

"You're Sinister right?"

I nodded and waited for the well deserved chaos spear that was going to kill me. But no pain came, and darkness didn't engulf me; a sure fire sign that I was still alive. He turned around and started to walk. Spades and myself looked at each other before Shadow called out, "COME ON!"

We jumped half a mile in the air before running to catch up with him.

**--- Toward the End of the Forest ---**

I've seen horrible things in the past, but what I had never been prepared to see was a clear meadow that usually would be thriving with bright green grass, pink and violet flowers that were just in bloom, and massive trees that would be ready to show off their new leaves; destroyed by the rise of toxic debris that rose from several pieces of metal that were scattered along the meadow. Anger replaced fear and I felt myself clench my hands into fists.

"Where are we... Shadow was it?"

Shadow looked at Spades and replied, "I honestly don't know."

"How did you find us?"

"I followed you. Sonic wanted to make sure you were okay and he didn't know where you were. I went to get you out but I saw you guys escaping so I followed you."

"So... if you don't know where we are then why-"

He motioned us to be quiet and I felt myself zip my lips shut. Shadow led us toward the awful smell and for a minute I thought I would pass out just by taking one smell of the place. Spades held his nose with his hand that wasn't handcuffed which I had to do as well.

The place held a dangerous aura as I recognized what the metal pieces were. They belonged to one of the sections of the Space Colony ARC... but just giving you that much information wouldn't mean much, so to be more specific... it was from the section where Maria was killed. Shadow seemed to recognize that as well as we stopped.

"Why are we here?" I found myself asking, my voice quivering.

Turning slowly and facing me I felt like screaming, for the hedgehog in front of us wasn't Shadow, wasn't my ancestor at all, but Rogue. He smiled and as he did we saw the once pure white fangs that had red on them. Spades grabbed another card from his hat and I started to run, along with Spades.

"Why aren't you attacking him?!"

"Are you kidding? Even an apprentice knows when not to attack! This is one of those times!" I yelled my response as we kept running. That's when I realized something dangerous. By running, we'd have to breathe the toxic scent in the air, causing us to go unconscious... or worse; but if we didn't run, Rogue was sure to kill us.

_"Spades!"_ my mind screamed as I put the hand that covered my nose over Spades' mouth.

"MPHH!!!"

"You'll thank me later."

We were running as fast as we could and I could see a long fence of barbed wire just ahead of us. Where were we? What was going to happen to us? Just as a huge explosion occured right behind us, I realized something strange. Time was moving too fast. Angel would have controlled it so it went normally, but the faster this incident was over with, the better.

Spades sped past me, dragging me with a new force I didn't think he was capable of. He jumped over the barbed wire fence and I barely made it over without getting a cut. He threw more cards back.

"What are you-"

"GET DOWN!" he yelled quickly as he pulled me to the ground and suddenly the playing cards that seemed harmless, deceived me as they were engulfed in vivid orange flames that caused a loud boom to be heard. An explosion.

I felt myself being blown back and I remember hitting a tree. Time was going faster than it was before, and I could feel the effect as my mind raced too fast for me to comprehend! Before I knew what was going on, I felt myself running along side Spades and that's when I realized that he no longer had his nose or mouth covered, but helped me keep my hand over my own nose and mouth.

_"Is he insane!? He'll die if he inhales too much of that!"_

"Chaos Spear!"

"WAH!"

Spades and I jumped over the black hedgehog whose red eyes were lit with anger. That's when I realized that this wasn't Rogue, but this was the actual Shadow the hedgehog. My heart sped up and we both darted away as fast as possible.

_**BANG!**_

We fell to the ground as bullets flew over our heads. We looked to see what appeared to be a hedgehog... well until we saw one off detail.

_"What on Mobius? I know that's a hedgehog... but... it's... furry... fuzzy... no spikes..."_

"Back away from these two. Now."

"You dare interfere with my problems?" Shadow asked as he glowed, preparing for a chaos blast.

Spades looked at Shadow and then looked at me to see me shivering.

"Are you cold?"

"N-no..." I gasped. I felt horrible, almost like my lungs were being frozen solid. The hedgehog seemed to see me gasping and she looked at Spades.

"Cover your mouth."

Spades did quickly but seemed scared to see me gasping like I was. To be honest, I couldn't tell if I was breathing still or if I had stopped. It scared me that I was in a life or death situation.

Shadow charged up, "Chaos-"

"Toxic Hold!"

Two objects flew over us and landed near Shadow, catching him off guard. He stopped and suddenly we all were blown away as the objects turned out to be grenades, and we were hit.

The world vanished under a blanket of darkness, and the scent of toxic fumes wrapped me in a suffocating, death grip. I know something happened because my thoughts slowed down dramatically until everything stopped. There was no wind.

I opened my eyes and saw the hedgehog patching me up and saw Spades rubbing his head. He looked at me and questioned, "what did you do?"

"Huh?"

The hedgehog looked at me with a pair of gold eyes and I felt myself pay attention to my surroundings more. There was no wind, in fact it seemed like the world was stuck in the hour of twilight.

"Who are you?"

"Toxin the Hedgehog. Sinister and Spades I pressume?"

"Erm..." I stood up quickly and got my scythe out, "you're working against u-"

I fell to my knees and gasped even more than I had during the whole "oh my chaos, Shadow's going to kill us" incident. Toxin seemed worried.

"Don't move."

I did just as she said until I found out that no thoughts were running through my mind. Well one thing was... but when I heard it, it seemed impossible.

A tear fell onto the darkened grass as the sky didn't move into the full nighttime scene.

_"Sinister, if you can hear me... listen carefully. We lost Angel. Angel is gone."_

**---**

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading. Listen, I know it's fast paced, and it's suppose to be for a reason. Also I know it's a bit strange how Toxin appeared but that'll be explained in the next part for this chapter. Until then though, I hope you guys enjoyed...**


	7. Crossing Lines Part Two

Hey guys! I'm on a roll now! I have a pretty good grip on what's going to happen in Family Matters now. Thanks to a pretty... interesting incident. Don't worry! I won't leave you out of the loop of what shall happen... I would never keep secrets such as what becomes of my characters. Unfortunately you have to keep reading to find out everything. Anyways, here's another chapter to Family Matters, I hope you enjoy it and I also hope to hear your opinions on the chapter.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own Sinister the hedgehog, Spades the Cat, and Toxin the Hedgehog. The other characters in the previous chapters are also suppose to be here but due to laziness, I'll just say look in the previous chapters for the complete list of OCs.

Anyways, ignoring my Disclaimer's laziness, here's the next chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Six: Crossing Lines Part Two**

The hour of twilight still lingered and Rogue felt his blood boil with pure rage. How could he have lost track of Sinister and that pest of a cat Spades? The demon hated the fact that he was alone to defend himself. He wasn't strong enough to do anything on his own yet... but the plan... it was flawless.

Of course the downside was that dawn and afternoons would never show their golden blazed faces ever again. Rogue smirked as he walked over the barbed wire fence. The purple haze that concealed the ground and the metal pieces seemed pretty realistic, but luckily for Rogue, he had done research and he knew what laid ahead of him. The only chance for Sinister to meet her death.

A set of footsteps were heard behind him and he froze. Turning swiftly he saw someone he knew would easily come with him to help with Sinister's death.

"Ah... just the person I needed to see."

"Who are you?"

"I am Rogue. Rogue the chameleon... and I have a very good feeling we're after the same thing. A black hedgehog with silver streaks. I believe you have seen her as well?"

"What about it?"

"If you come with me, then we will eliminate her. It's your chance for revenge. She's the one that took your precious Maria away. Made it so you would never see Maria again."

Shadow's ruby red eyes widened as he nodded. He glowed with chaos energy, "you've got yourself an ally."

---

Even in a time of where everyone would start assuming the apocolypse had finally arrived, Toxin and Spades were very calm. I still felt horrible even when a cloth was placed over my nose and mouth.

"Wha?"

"It won't get rid of the effects the toxic fumes has caused, but it'll at least prevent your condition from getting any worse," Toxin explained simply. I saw that she was wearing army green jeans, and a black tank top with a strap that held a sniper rifle in place on her back. It wasn't the clothes nor the sniper rifle that gave me a strange feeling that I knew her however, but it was the fact that there were no spikes on her but instead fur that can only be described as the kind of fur you would see on baby kittens. She was an auburn colored hedgehog with the strangest lime green eyes I'd ever seen.

"She'll be fine right?"

The question Spades had asked caught me off guard; was he really that worried about my well-being? It... it didn't matter at that moment though. Because if we didn't get out of...

I looked around; where the hell were we?

"Where... are we?" I asked as I sat up with Spades' help.

Actually it seemed strange that the handcuff chains weren't making a single noise as we moved. I looked and sure enough my hopes were shattered, we were still stuck together.

"... It's the crash sight of the Space Colony ARC."

"When did it crash? I thought it stayed up in space!"

I looked at Spades who seemed very confused by this fact. I sighed and slowly told him, "things can't stay in space forever. If you put something in space, chances are within the fifty years it's up there, it'll eventually crash onto the nearest land mass."

The cat sighed as he nodded, "thanks for explaining... and please refrain from making me look like an idiot."

Toxin smirked, apparently she hadn't heard a good argument recently.

"So mind explaining to us why you're here?"

"How about you two explain and I'll explain?"

I crossed my arms and received a yelp from Spades who pulled his handcuffed hand away from me.

"No way. Not until we hear who you are and so on."

"A bit suspicous? Of what?"

Spades eyed the gun with the kind of look that said 'watch out I might just kill you when you're asleep'. Toxin saw the stare but ignored it nonetheless.

"Fine. My name is Toxin and I'm a soldier that got abandoned."

"That's it?"

"If you'd stop talking then I'd tell you more."

At this, Spades and I forced ourselves to be silent to listen to Toxin's tale.

"Anyways as I was saying... I was here on a mission with a friend of mine, but the Space Colony ARC crashed and sort of unleashed this venomous gas that I somehow managed to survive while my friend was killed by it. Taking refugee in this toxic wasteland, I called for help several other times but... no one ever came. I knew that this gas would kill me just like it killed him, even though I looked at reality... death never met me. I somehow stayed alive just by breathing through a cloth most of my stay here."

Spades and I seemed bored at the moment but as she looked at us, we faked an interested look. How could we not look interested in a story like that? It lacked details. Specific details. What details was I looking for as Toxin's voice turned from thoughtful to venomous? I couldn't be sure but when I realized her voice seemed hateful, spiteful, even murderous I felt unsafe.

"Then time seemed to get faster and faster, that's when I knew something was up. I travelled from my base, over the barbed wire fence only to be met with two people that threatened to kill me if I didn't help them."

"An armadillo and a chameleon? Were those the people that threatened you?" I questioned as my interested look turned serious and was now etched onto my face.

Toxin nodded solemnly and she sighed.

"I don't know what they were doing here in the first place without masks. They would probably die, that was my original thought... until I saw the chameleon attacking you two along with that mess of a hedgehog."

"Shadow," I whispered as Toxin looked around.

"That's right... Emo."

My eyes widened as I suddenly shouted, "how do you know him?! Only Sonic and Knuckles call him Emo!"

Toxin didn't meet our curious gazes as she walked a little ways from us and returned with a knife. My heart skipped a beat and I'm pretty sure I saw Spades quiver slightly with fear.

"Sinister. I can't explain everything to you guys. The last bit of information I can give you is that I don't know where I come from, who I was once called, I just know that I was in a tank like Emo once was. I woke up when my friend found me a long time ago."

The first idea that came into my head was that she came from the ARC, but I tossed it out almost immediately after it entered my mind. What a dumb idea. Besides, the ARC hadn't crashed until recently or at least that's what I'm assuming, so there's no way that she came from the ARC. I felt something sharp slash across my arm. Then warmth trickled down my arm and what happened next made me go into a panic.

"OOOWWW!! IT HURTS!! IT STINGS!!! STOP IT!!!" I shrieked loudly.

"Shut her up!"

Spades covered my mouth so I couldn't scream anymore. Did I mention that I hate when people have me in a headlock? Well that's what Spades had me in and I wanted to murder him.

Suddenly as fast as the pain came, it disappeared. Looking at my arm I saw that instead of crimson blood running from the deep wound, it was silver and lavender rivers that flowed from the cut. And the trail of lavender and silver left dark burns that were easily visible despite the fact that my spikes were black.

"W-what-"

"The venom. It's the venom. This is bad. We need to get you to a safer environment," Toxin said in a wise voice. She then added, "but to do that, we need to get through the toxic fields."

Spades was the first one that asked, "what's the closest town?"

"It's an old ninja school to be honest. No one really knows about it, except for me and the only person there. It's home to a small organization called the Hikaru Raid. It was once-"

"Enough of the history lesson!" Spades seemed to practically shout at Toxin. "Just get us the hell out of here so we can treat her and get her to where she has to go."

For a moment I looked at Spades who seemed truely concerned about my well-being. It... I don't know what it exactly triggered, I guess a sense of happiness, that somewhere in his heart... deep down, he was just like Angel who wanted to help. My vision blurred for a moment before I pulled myself back together.

Spades then lifted me off the ground, bridal style, and that's when I felt regret and sorrow overcome me as though something bad would happen and this would be my only chance to say this.

"I-I'm sorry... I can't... I can't get the handcuffs off."

The cat looked at me with his red specked eyes and only confusion filled them, "what?"

"Remember... I can't-"

"Why can't you? Aren't you the Angel of Death's Apprentice?"

I glanced at Toxin who smiled innocently.

"And you know about that how?"

"Well you're not denying it so it must be true. Right?"

She was smart. But even intelligence couldn't have been her reason as to how she knew that I was an apprentice to one of the most hated immortals around. I shrugged it off, she would guide us to safety, I had confidence in her; I sighed and started to explain.

"I may have killed things in the past, but that doesn't mean I have weaknesses. You see, when something in connected to me and another person such as handcuffs, I can't take it off or break it off."

"No duh, we sorta figured that out. But why?"

Everyone has weaknesses that was true. I had a lot even though I would never admit it. I liked having people wonder about me, but I feared that by saying my reason would just make me appear weak in the eyes of Spades and Toxin. But if I didn't tell them... how would they be able to help me?

"... Fate."

"Pardon?"

"Fate took away that ability of mine to escape from a majority of restraints, like handcuffs, when we were younger," I explained as my face turned pink. "I had pulled a prank on Fate and for revenge she... took away the escape artist ability. And that's my reason."

To my surprise, Toxin just nodded while Spades seemed to understand completely. He looked at the handcuffs that held us together and he smiled, "it's okay. Besides... I'm sure we'll get out of this pretty soon."

Toxin seemed pretty calm until an explosion occured nearby. Her eyes seemed to flash with a sense of knowledge and a commanding spirit, one you'd find in a leader. Turning to us she told us, "Spades. The card thing you did will help us greatly. There are mines, bombs that are invisible to the naked eye. Your cards somehow hit them directly. We've given the enemy something to worry about. Keep that in mind, it'll come in use in the future."

The furry hedgehog climbed out of the hiding spot and motioned Spades to follow. He looked at me and seemed concerned about something; maybe the fact that the bombs were invisible and we wouldn't know where exactly they were. At least that was the first thing that ran through my mind. The second was what if we ran right into a bomb, would Spades make it out alive?

I stopped myself after that thought; what was I thinking? Why was I thinking about his safety?

My vision seemed to be effected by the venom because I couldn't follow anything fast moving; which left me in a huge black out until suddenly the world came back to my view. Dark clouds lingered above us in the sky, and all around us was the dark grey smoke that rose from the scattered pieces of a recently exploded bomb.

"Toxin? Where are we?"

"We didn't cross the barbed fence. The fence is gone. Who-"

My eyes locked onto a figure a little ways from us and I instantly grabbed a card from Spades and tossed it.

"Bombs away!" Toxin shouted as she grabbed Spades and brought him down to the ground along with me.

BOOM!

Then smoke was both our escape plan, and our major downfall. We started to crawl, I remember crawling along side Spades. I decided right then and there that now wasn't the time to play defenseless and let Spades and Toxin take responsibility for what happened to me. Toxin stopped but Spades didn't.

"Why are you-"

He was cut off and we looked up to see a pair of red eyes staring at us. Those were Shadow's eyes. The black hedgehog was glowing dangerously with chaos energy and I sensed danger rolling all around us. I wasn't sure if it was because of Shadow's chaos energy or it was just the incorrect theory about the invisible bombs. Either way, I was pretty sure Spades and myself were scared.

Toxin stood up and took out her sniper rifle.

"Stay away from us Emo. Take another step toward us and you'll regret it."

Her voice turned back into the venomous tone she had used earlier, and the sound of my heart beating frantically migrated up to my head. It was as if someone started to play the drums in my mind, creating a throbbing feeling.

Despite the tone, Shadow seemed to almost smirk.

"Guns don't scare me."

He took a step toward us and the sound of the rifle going off caused Spades to shake slightly. He got up, lifting me along with himself and we darted away.

We didn't get far though when a clawed hand grabbed my wrist, pulling our escape plan down the drain and causing us to stop from running. Spades' eyes were wide as he looked at Rogue, and I felt like I had to protect Spades from getting hurt by Rogue.

"Let. Me. GO!"

I wasn't a chaos user, nor did I possess any real interesting powers, but what caught me off guard at that moment was the fact that my sight was leaving me. Darkness took over but I knew I was still conscious.

"Shadow Ring!"

The darkness left my sight and slammed into Rogue's arm. Yelling with pain he held his arm that was now bleeding badly and I started to run. Spades was next to me luckily.

"What the hell was that?"

"I honestly don't know," I replied until we reflected what just happened. Then we started to think the same thing:

Was Toxin alright?

"Guys!"

We looked behind us and then to the side of us to see Toxin with one side of her face covered in silver and lavender blood, but thankfully she was still conscious and still able to run.

"Straight ahead! Keep running!"

Spades then said, "here's a card for you, and you too Sin. Get ready."

Toxin caught right onto the plan but it took me a few minutes to comprehend exactly what I was suppose to do. We faced straight ahead.

"SCREAM AND FIRE!"

We shot the cards in front of us and the sudden force of the explosion made us stop for a second before we were engulfed in the dark smoke.

Rogue and Shadow kept running after us, I knew that much, but when I heard a shout I started to get confused. It wasn't Rogue's scream nor was it Shadow's. But... it... it seemed familiar. I didn't bother to think of that in that particular moment in time.

When the first raindrop hit me, I suddenly realized I was crying as Toxin, Spades and I kept running. It was raining. Time was back in motion.

---

Shadow growled as the smoke cleared, the chaos energy that once surrounded him faded. He turned toward Rogue who muttered a few words before the wound on his arm healed almost completely.

"We lost them."

Rogue was getting aggitated, he could've taken over Mobius, and could've destroyed Sinister in one blow if he didn't have Cecelia and Shadow getting in his way. No. That wasn't it. He just picked the wrong people. He needed better allies. Better fighters and trackers. His brain turned as he actually had a thought on who to consider.

"Shadow. Come. We plan our next step. And this time it will not fail," Rogue quietly said as he led Shadow away from the debris of the bombs.

When they were no longer in sight, a set of soft colored eyes appeared, and a small whisper was heard among the wind.

"A plan... designed not to fail? We'll have to see about this now won't we? Light Warp."

A large flash of light appeared out of nowhere, temporarily breaking the dark storm clouds apart to reveal the sky above. When the light vanished, so did the clear portion of the sky as the storm was persistant in staying.

**---**

**Wow, let me tell you, when you have a major case of writers block, it's hard to finish a chapter. It took me three whole tries at trying to get this chapter to explain a little bit of information. It was hard let me just leave it at that. Anyways so there's the chapter. What is Rogue's new plan, and who exactly is he thinking as a possibility for an ally? What lies ahead for Sinister and the others? And... what is so important about the Hikaru Raid? You'll find out in the next chapter. Until then, thanks for reading I hope you guys enjoyed it!**


	8. A Destined Meeting

Hey guys! I might be getting over my writers block... Oh shoot. I jinxed myself (looks around)... Erm... While I search for wood to knock on, please listen to the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her OCs, Sinister the Hedgehog, Spades the Cat, Toxin the Hedgehog, Rogue the Demon, Cecelia the Armadillo, and other OCs mentioned in the previous other chapters.

(Knocks on table) Thank you Disclaimer. And I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I had fun trying to think of the strange possibilities of how this chapter could go.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: A Destined Meeting**

Rain was falling from the clouds like bullets being fired out of a pistol, that was the only thing that the set of blue eyes took into consideration as she watched them. She was hidden and she was actually surprised that she was still alive.

Angel was hiding among the branches of the large apple tree to prevent getting sick, but she still shivered as the cold gusts of wind blew past her. She had to admit, she was scared. When a demon appears out of nowhere and kills...

She had to stop herself at that moment. She whimpered as the wind blew harder and harder, and her stomach growled as though to claim that things were only going to get worse. Angel stood up, preparing to fly out of the tree but the wind blew her out of the tree and she shrieked.

A set of hands caught her and she covered her eyes out of fear.

"Hey are you okay?"

Angel moved her hands away from her eyes to see a weasel with a western hat on and with a pistol that was attached to his belt. She nodded quickly as she got out of his grip only to fall down. She started crying suddenly.

"What's wrong?"

"I got attacked! My friend is in deep trouble, my other friend just got killed, I'm stuck in this cold weather and I'm hungry!"

Angel remained crying for a while until she smelled something delicious, even if it was a simple food item. A small loaf of bread. The weasel held it out.

"Here. I don't need it anyways. I'm heading to a hideout for a while, if you want you can come with me," he said calmly as though he knew what to do... or if he just wanted to shut her up.

Angel got up, nibbling on the bread.

"Really?"

The weasel nodded, "I'm Fang the weasel. And you are?"

"Angel."

"Well then Angel, come with me and I'll get you out of this cold weather."

The butterfly skipped along side Fang as he put the hat on Angel's head to keep her from getting wet. Fang didn't get along with kids too well, but... why did he get along with Angel? Even Angel, the controller of time, had no idea, but it felt good to have someone near her.

Fang looked at Angel and just realized that her hands were covered in scratches and bite marks. He then asked, "what attacked you?"

"... Cecelia..."

Fear rose in Angel's voice along with fresh tears that began to spill from her eyes. Fang felt guilty for making her cry, no, he didn't do it. This Cecelia person did. He patted Angel on the head to only receive a look of curiosity.

"Hey, cheer up. I'll protect you for a while."

_"How long is a while?"_ Angel found herself wondering as she looked down at her muddy shoes as she took Fang's hand and held onto it like a little kid would. Fang glanced at Angel and found that she was crying.

"D-Don't... please don't leave me alone..."

Now Fang realized that he was stuck in the vortex called 'guilt trip'. The weasel sighed and he said, "I won't. I promise I won't."

After he said that his grip on her hand tightened slightly. He made a promise, now came the challenge... how long would he be able to keep his promise?

**--- Meanwhile ---**

Rogue sighed as he sat in a tree branch and watched Angel and Fang. He felt the fear rolling off Angel like tidal waves, and he also felt a protective surge of energy rip through Fang. Of course those simple emotions were wiped out of his sight thanks to the hatred and jealousy that tore through him. Wait? Jealousy?

Shadow chaos controlled next to Rogue and asked, "should I get them?"

"No... lets make them think they're safe. Then attack when least expected," Rogue replied quietly. Shadow nodded as he chaos controlled to another tree, then another; following them.

The demon's stone grey eyes now turned blood red as he glared at Angel. He was happy that she was suffering, that Cecelia had carried through the plan as planned. There was one remaining thought on his mind though; what became of the others? He knew that one of them were killed, but he knew that the person that was killed wasn't Charmy, nor was it Fate. This alone sent him on the verge of killing something.

_"Rogue... Cecelia to Rogue."_

Rogue got down into a crouch position and watched as the duo vanished in the shadows of the forest.

**"Rogue to Cecelia, status?"**

_"I did as you said but the others escaped. Angel has been destroyed."_

**"That's... wait... destroyed?"**

_"Yes. I just burned her remains not too long ago. She didn't put up a fight, she sacrificed herself to protect Charmy... but Master Rogue, why do you sound so confused?"_ Cecelia asked telepathically.

Rogue felt his world stop, felt the rain freeze around him and then... for the first time, he felt slight fear.

**"You're sure she's dead."**

_"Positive."_

Silence passed between the duo's mind conversation until Rogue quickly stated, **"Keep track of the others, don't kill them. Just make sure they don't find Sinister the Hedgehog."**

_"Yes Master Rogue."_

The conversation had ended and Rogue slickly moved from shadow to shadow until he caught up with Fang and Angel. They were walking and Angel was talking to Fang about her friend, Sinister, who was in deep trouble because bad people were after her. Fang nodded and said something he couldn't quite hear but he could guess that they were comforting words.

Angel was dead. But yet, here she was. He then whispered, "darkness and light, fall upon her and reveal me her inner sight."

Then Rogue felt himself vanish from the real world and suddenly he was back in the same spot he had been. Anger crossed into his face, the spell failed.

But he felt a shiver run down his back; this just proved that Angel really was dead. How she was here when over a hundred miles away she had been killed and why she attached to Fang was just a mystery to him that he couldn't solve. Angel... her presence here made him feel fear for the first time. He felt horrible.

Angel was the controller of time, even the fatal blow that killed her, didn't stop her from being around. Rogue felt his clawed fingers grip the trunk of the tree too tightly and the tree snapped like a minature twig. Fang and Angel stopped and turned toward the tree that had been reduced to a pile of splinters. Moments passed before Fang sighed.

"Lets keep going. It's dangerous to be outside when it's raining like this."

Angel nodded, "okay."

They faded from his sight again. Rogue couldn't move, he felt paralyzed. He could've done what most villains would've, killed the duo and hunted after Sinister himself. But he knew that Sinister wasn't alone, and if that was the case then he knew she would be well protected. Then it dawned on him his next move in this massive game of cat and mouse. He knew how to get rid of his opponent, once and for all.

Rogue smiled, revealing his pure white fangs that dripped with a trace of faded blood. He then fell into the shadows, and followed them, refusing to back down out of his plan due to a mere set back.

Set backs are one of those things that can be a good thing or a very deadly thing. What Rogue didn't know was that it can work in one way or both ways.

**---**

**I know, it's a short chapter, but I couldn't think of anything after my cousin once again erased this chapter. I jinxed myself from the beginning I swear. This is my third time writting this. The first two times it was erased it was because my computer acted up. Blah, but I finally have it done... on Wednesday... Anyways, before anything else happens I'll get started on the next chapter right away. I hope you guys enjoyed it and please tell me what you guys think.**


	9. An Angel's Battle Part One

Hey guys! Wow, it's vacation for me and the last thing I wanted to be hit with was writers block. But what happens anyways? I get hit with a massive writers block. I guess I have to thank a trip to Borders to give me a strange idea of what happened next. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and please tell me what you guys think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her OCs that are mentioned in the previous chapters like Spades the Cat, Sinister the Hedgehog, Toxin the Hedgehog, Angel the Butterfly and so on.

Thank you disclaimer. Lets move right into the story though.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: An Angel's Battle Part One**

The walk seemed to linger for hours as Fang the Sniper and Angel kept walking through the darkness of the forest. Over the time the duo were together, Fang's mind kept sending warning signals, but of course, he never listened to them. He liked surprises; but what kind of surprises he would get while with Angel made him a bit uneasy. It was true that Angel was only a little girl, but... there was something that shouted "warning this is a dangerous being you're with".

"Fang... you're really nice..."

This dropped his guard slightly.

"What brought that all of a sudden?" Fang asked quietly as the cold wind blew the rain toward them and made them feel like bullets. The dark clouds that lingered over head were dark and were beginning to flash as though someone was messing around with a light switch.

"I just heard rumors that you were a bad person... but... I think they were lying."

"Who told you I was?"

"...Everyone."

Fang blinked as Angel kept her glance down on the ground; something wasn't right.

"What happened to you before I met you?"

"I already told you. My friends and I were attacked. My friend was being hunted down."

"Not what happened to them. To you, because personally you seem a bit in shock."

Silence flew over the duo before Angel stated, "It's not shock... it's fear."

"What do you have to be scared of though? I'm here."

"But for how long?"

Fang's mind froze and only one question echoed through his head, _"did she know I was going to leave her once she was safe?"_

"Of course I did."

He suddenly stopped and looked at Angel who looked at Fang with a slight glare that was mixed with a look that demanded an explanation. He felt guilt rise and the voice in his head screamed louder than before to run away and forget that he ever met Angel. Once again, he ignored the voice in his head.

"How did-"

"I read your mind. It's not hard to do. Just concentrate and you get a pretty good picture of what the person is thinking. Now please tell me something Fang... or should I say Nack?"

Fang flinched at the name Nack; it had been so long since he had heard his old name. He listened to Angel as she continued.

"Fang, Nack, whoever you are... do you believe in ghosts?"

_"Ghosts? I... I never thought about it. No. Ghosts are just around to be in scary stories to keep children up all night-"_

"No."

"You don't?" asked Angel as she crossed her arms.

"Nope."

Angel raised an eyebrow, "You never believed in ghosts? Not even once? Okay then, do you believe in the walking dead?"

"What does this have to-"

"Answer and I'll explain."

Fang sighed as he said, "no. I don't believe in anything after death."

"Not even an afterli-"

"What does this have to do with anything!?" Fang practically shouted out.

Angel blinked and she smiled.

"... Don't believe in ghosts? Well you're talking to one."

For a long moment, Fang didn't do anything except stare. Until... he started laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!! N-NICE!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH I'M SO SC-SCARED!!" Fang roared as he kept laughing hysterically. During his little laughing fit, Angel's wings fluttered slightly and she stared at him with a cold glare.

**--- Meanwhile ---**

Rogue stopped in the shadows, listening to the echoing laughter. He hated the sound of laughter more than anything; laughing was a weakness, a way to be easily distracted. What made him burn with anger was he had no idea what Fang was laughing about; talk about being paranoid.

The demon listened as the laughter died. He smirked as he remembered he was in the form of a chameleon. Just as his fangs formed a very devious and evil grin, he camaflouged with his darkened surroundings. As he moved through the shadows, invisible, he couldn't help but to keep his grin on his face...

He had found a weakness.

**---**

Fang gasped for air as he stopped laughing at Angel's statement. Angel blinked, obviously not liking the fact that she was laughed at, and questioned, "are you done laughing and ready to face reality?"

"Wait... you weren't kidding?"

"No I was. Of course I wasn't!" Angel said with desperation in her voice. "I'm dead! I'm a spirit! A ghost! A... a... phantom!!"

Fang didn't move, his voice was destroyed on the spot. Laughing seemed to be the wrong thing to do, but screaming at her seemed to be just as wrong as laughing... what were you suppose to do if you came across a spirit? Run away screaming for your mom? Faint? What do you do at times like these?!

"... Prove it."

Angel smiled as she walked up to a tree. She then ran toward the tree. Fang expected her to hit the tree and start crying, but she ran right through the tree and she walked through the tree and stood in front of Fang with a victorious grin.

"Believe in spirits now?"

"W-W-W-"

Angel smiled innocently as she took Fang's hand, "come on! Don't be so scared!"

"I-I'm not s-scared! Just... freaked out."

"In other terms, you're scared of me."

"As long as you don't plan on cursing me because I laughed at you then we're still on good terms."

Angel smiled as she pulled Fang along.

"So you're dead... and someone killed you?"

"Yep. A demon named Cecelia did this to me."

"Um..."

The butterfly facepalmed herself as she exclaimed, "OH YEAH! You weren't there! I'm sorry! Maybe I should explain."

"An explanation would be nice," Fang stated as he let himself keep being dragged by Angel.

"Alright. Well it happened almost a few hours ago... I was walking with my friends Fate, Apple, the Chaotix, Hailey... Ocean... Flame... Mighty... when she appeared..."

**--- Flashback: A few hours ago ---**

The large group had been travelling for hours through the meadow that seemed to go on forever. Ocean was sleeping as Mighty carried her, everyone else seemed just about ready to fall asleep on the spot except for Fate. The fox had determination written on her face and she kept walking with her head held up high.

The silence that seemed to keep the lullaby of drowsiness playing in everyone's ears suddenly came to a sudden halt as shadows gathered around them.

"Not now," Fate whispered in slight fear as the Chaotix, Apple and Flame ran up beside Fate.

The shadows kept gathering until they formed the figure of an armadillo. The demonic eyes seemed to hurt Mighty as he flinched and his blue eyes fell to the dark green grass that was littered with flower petals.

"Mighty, is that our daughter? May I hold her since you're no longer going to be around?"

Mighty backed away, Ocean was still sleeping as though she hadn't heard anything. Hailey got in front of Mighty protectively and took out a knife.

"Leave us alone or else you will face death in the face."

"Ha! Death wouldn't want to face me after what's happened. I mean, when his favorite assistant turns against him and works with Rogue, why would he want to face me? I'm a disappointment," Cecelia said with a tone that could freeze boiling lava.

Angel looked at Fate who looked like she was in a trance.

"Angel, get Charmy and get the hell out of here."

The butterfly nodded, "right!"

"Charmy, take this."

Vector handed Charmy a cell phone.

"Call us when you get to safety."

"'Kay Boss!" Charmy replied as he flew over to Angel who took his hand and started running away, full speed. Apple was scared for Ocean's safety.

"Mighty, trust me on this and hand me Ocean. I'll keep her safe."

The red armadillo seemed distrusting of Apple for a millisecond before he handed Ocean to her.

"Keep her safe. If anything happens to her..."

"I know. Wish you luck."

Then Apple and Ocean were gone from the group. Flame looked at Vector as she said, "Vector... get Espio and Hailey, and leave."

"WHAT?!"

"Fate, Mighty and I can handle Cecelia on our own. Besides, you've got to meet up with Charmy otherwise things could go badly."

Vector clenched his hands into fists, "no. We're helping."

"You can help by DYING!!" Cecelia screamed as she lunged at them.

Espio grabbed Vector's hand and dragged him to the ground as Cecelia flew right over them.

"I say we listen to Flame and make a retreat."

Vector growled as he sighed, "fine."

"Come on Hail..."

Espio looked around and saw no trace of Hailey anywhere.

"Where did she-"

"DIE!!"

Espio and Vector both barely dodged the attack and Espio threw a kunai at the demonic armadillo. Cecelia dodged and watched as the duo fled. She turned to see Fate looking slightly fearful, while Mighty cracked his knuckles and Flame started to flicker with new flames that appeared.

"You want a piece of me?"

Flame smirked as she charged toward Cecelia.

"Fire Blast!"

Cecelia waved her hand and a fairly large shield appeared in front of Cecelia and blocked off the overwhelming heatwaves. She smiled as she threw the shield at Flame after the attack was done. Flame didn't expect that and was hit. She fell to the ground and she was knocked unconscious.

Mighty didn't want to fight Cecelia, which was pretty understandable since this was once his girlfriend. But what he knew was that Fate was going to die if he didn't help. Just before he was going to launch a punch at Cecelia, the demonic armadillo fell to the ground.

Cecelia got up, turned around and growled at the flying object in the sky. Mighty and Fate screamed out frantically, "GET OUT OF HERE ANGEL!!"

Angel smiled innocently as she launched another orb of bright light.

"I should be screaming the same thing. You guys go. I'll make sure she won't bother you."

"Killing two birds with one large boulder, this should be fun," Cecelia muttered quietly as the duo started fighting.

Mighty lifted Flame off the ground and Fate was holding back tears. Fate never cried when Sinister left, but if anything happened to Angel, then... she'd be willing to shed a few tears for that.

"Grr... we can't leave!"

"Oh yes you can," said a calm voice and a white cloaked figure appeared.

"... You're-"

"Yes. But I'll explain later. Come along before it's too late."

The figure grabbed the trio and in a blinding flash of light, they were gone.

Cecelia was throwing as many punches as she could and Angel was blocking them all. Angel knew she wasn't going to be able to keep this up; Cecelia wasn't even breaking a sweat while Angel was.

"ANGEL!!!"

"CHARMY LEAVE!!" Angel cried out as she didn't block in time and a punch collided with her head.

She shrieked as she met the ground and held her head which felt like someone rang a giant gong right beside her. Angel whimpered as she was kicked in the head over and over again. But it suddenly stopped. Angel looked and saw that Charmy was distracting Cecelia from hurting her; the butterfly smirked as she whispered the words.

"Time freeze..."

The duo froze as Angel stood up and walked over to where Charmy was. She grabbed him and held him like a little baby. She stuck her tongue out at Cecelia and laughed, "wow. Such a scary person is so funny when they can't move. Maybe next time you'll have better luck. Bye!"

Angel waved as she flew away with Charmy. Then time unfroze but what happened next caused time all around them to go uncontrollably fast.

"W-What-"

There was a giggle as Cecelia chased after them. Angel kept flying and Charmy watched while squirming.

"Let me go! I can take her!"

"No. That's suicide!" Angel remarked as she tightened her grip on Charmy and flew faster.

"ANGEL!"

The butterfly was too slow to look down and she shrieked as something pierced her wing. She started flying toward the ground and she threw Charmy up.

"FLY!"

The little honey bee did as Angel said and he flew as high as he could go. Charmy watched as Angel hit the ground and Cecelia made her move and began hitting Angel with stones and punches that could snap full grown trees in half. Of course, Angel tried to stop time so she could escape, but nothing happened. Time was moving extremely fast and for a moment it seemed like Angel wasn't doing anything.

Suddenly time stopped.

Cecelia stopped attacking Angel and Charmy was fighting back his tears; whatever happened it stopped Cecelia from harming Angel... then again Angel wasn't moving.

The demon glared at Angel as the butterfly's soft eyes lost their light and stared lifelessly toward the sky. Cecelia smiled as she kicked Angel one last time before vanishing.

**--- End of Flashback ---**

"So you died that way? I'd love to kick the demon's ass after what she did to you," Fang said.

Angel shook her head, "no you have it wrong. I was acting."

Fang blinked.

"Acting?"

"Yeah. I somehow managed to appear dead and Cecelia thought she had killed me. Charmy even thought so too when he flew down but I sat up and just shook my head remarking, 'ow... that hurt... a lot'."

Fang stared at Angel before asking, "so if you didn't die like that then... how did you?"

Angel motioned Fang to be quiet and listened as a branch snapped. She then started to run full speed with Fang.

"I'll explain it when I know we're alone and not being watched!"

"Who's watching us? Is it that demon Cecelia?!"

"No. It's the last person you ever want to meet while you're alive. He's the prophet from Hell. His name is Rogue. And for some reason, he wants Sinister dead."

The rain fell harder than before and the ground under the duo began to turn from mud to a massive watery mud puddle. They kept running before Angel tripped and fell into the mud.

"Angel are you okay?"

Angel got up and didn't reply as she grabbed his hand again and resumed running at full speed.

"You want to know what happened that got me to become a ghost right?"

Fang nodded, "yes!"

"Then hold on. We're going back in time!"

Fang was about to ask what she meant, before a bright portal appeared in front of the duo. Angel and Fang jumped in and before everything turned white, Fang thought he saw someone familiar watching them.

**---**

**Finally, the chapter is done and ready for you patient readers to read it. I am so sorry this is late. A massive writers block slammed into me and I couldn't think of anything better than this. So it's not my best chapter but please respect it like the other chapters and please tell me what you guys think. I appreciate your support and reviews.**


	10. An Angel's Battle Part Two

Hey guys! Okay, the good news by writing this is that my writers block has finally vanished and hopefully won't be back for a while. This chapter was pretty easy to write since I had a semi good idea about what was happening next. I hope you guys like this chapter, and I also would like to hear what you guys think of it.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her usual OCs, Angel the Butterfly, Toxin the Hedgehog, Sinister the Hedgehog, Spades the Cat, Flame the Swallow, Hailey the Spider, Ocean the Armadillo, and many other OCs she created. The new OCs in this chapter are Shira and Soren the Wolves. Look in the previous chapters for more characters that are missing from this list.

Thank you disclaimer, now lets move on to the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Nine: An Angel's Battle Part Two**

Those eyes... Fang recalled seeing them somewhere before, but it was too late to call out the name of the owner of those eyes. Fang was right though to look around before disappearing into the portal. When he saw those eyes he felt hurt, almost ashamed. Why though? Why did he feel hurt when nothing had happened?

The sight of those eyes was the thing that haunted his dark realm called his mind as he lost consciousness from falling for such a long time. He felt like he was floating rather than falling; then again, to him, it was the same feeling.

It seemed like he was wrapped in unconsciousness for a very long time as Fang opened his eyes to a marvelous sight; a clear blue sky and a blazing sun. He slowly sat up and found himself sitting in a meadow of tall grass.

As he looked around for a long moment, a frantic question ran out of his mouth.

"Where's Angel?!" he practically shouted out as he looked all around him for the little white haired butterfly.

"Who's Angel?"

Fang swiftly turned around to see a young wolf wearing a white robe that was customized with bright pink designs.

"Who're you?"

"You shouldn't ignore my questions like that. If you answer my question then I'll answer your's... okay?" the young wolf asked in a voice that belonged to someone pure and innocent.

Fang sighed, "Angel's a little butterfly. White hair... um... about this tall," as he said this he motioned how tall Angel was. The clueless look in the wolf's eyes made him make the quick decision to stop before he confused her anymore. "She's missing though..."

"Oh. And now I answer your question. I'm Shira Li and I was seeing if you were awake yet."

"Awake?"

"Yeah, I got scared that maybe you were..."

Shira shook her head quickly and grabbed Fang's hand.

_"What is it with these kids dragging me all over the place?!"_ Fang's mind shouted with slight annoyance.

"Come with me please. Brother wants to see if you're okay. He's sort of the medic in the family."

"Medic?"

Shira nodded and she started to drag Fang up to his feet. Fang got up and put a hand on the hood that covered the wolf's face. Shira swiftly slapped the hand away and seemed scared.

"What?"

"I was just curious as to what you look like... sorry."

Shira pulled her hood down and revealed that she was pure pink and there were black on the tips of her ears. As she blinked, her brilliant pink eyes appeared to be foggy and unfocused.

"Um..." Shira seemed like she was about to say something but she pulled the hood back over her head and resumed dragging Fang along the meadow, toward a distant house that appeared almost abandoned.

Even with Shira's fragile and weak appearance, she was able to open the door to the house with ease. The inside of the house seemed very spacious and empty; except for the three people that were sitting around a small table.

"Brother! I got him!"

"Fang!"

Fang was met with a hug from Angel whose arm was wrapped in a lot of bandages and Angel's left eye had a large cut running down it. She smiled at Fang and released him from the hug.

"Shira Li! Where have you been!?"

"Sorry brother... I was trying to help," Shira quietly said as she bowed her head and hid behind Angel.

"Sorry doesn't cut the worry in half!"

"Yo Soren, calm down. She didn't mean any harm. Besides, I told you she would be back, didn't I?"

Angel shivered as she looked at the figure sitting the farthest away from them all. He was a pure black chameleon with red eyes... one that mimicked-

"Rogue! Shut up! You have no business getting involved in our own affairs!"

Soren stood up and Fang paid close attention to his attire; a midnight black robe with strange blue designs and he had the most soft spoken blue eyes that Fang had ever seen. Soft spoken however wasn't the word to describe Soren's voice though.

"Shira! I told you a hundred, no a thousand, times never EVER run off like that!"

While Soren and Shira were arguing, Fang looked at Angel and thought of numerous questions.

_"Where... um... when are we? Isn't this Rogue guy the person we were running away from before? What are we suppose to see exactly because all I see are three people that don't do a very good job getting along and-"_

_"We're a lot farther back than I thought we would be,"_ Angel thought as she looked guilty, _"I think we're more than three hundred years in the past. Um... yes Rogue is the guy we were running away from, but apparently in this time he's not after us... and... for the last question-"_

"So you're Nack?"

Fang jumped a little as he turned and saw Rogue looking at him with childish red eyes. They weren't as demonic as they were back where the duo came from, but instead they just held a child-like appearance that made Fang calm down.

"Yeah, what of it?"

Rogue tilted his head, "I know you."

"Of course you do Rogue! You met him in another one of your visions right?"

He looked at Shira who was smiling hopefully. Rogue nodded.

"Yes. That's how I know him."

"See brother! I told you that Rogue knew him!"

Soren growled and stormed away from them. Shira walked over and seemed to force herself to smile.

"I'm sorry if Fang caused you any trouble," Angel told Shira as she shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "I'm just curious, how old are you guys?"

Rogue blinked and stared at the duo as though they were morons. Of course, Shira tapped Rogue and motioned him to answer.

"I'm thirteen and Shira's twelve."

_"... And how old are they back when we come from?"_

_"Would you kill me if I answered almost a thousand years?"_

Fang held back the look of irritation as Shira smiled, "Rogue, you have to watch these guys while brother and I get more food for our guests."

"I knew you would win the argument."

Shira skipped out of the house and Rogue's blood red eyes stared at the duo who just stared right back at him.

"So... what would you like to do?"

_"I'm going to kick his a-"_

_"Don't! He's probably not evil in this point in time,"_ Angel's thought echoed in Fang's head.

"I'm not sure. I guess, if it's alright with you, we'll just wander around and see where exactly we-"

"Haven Fields."

Angel looked sad as she glanced at the ground and her hand covered her mouth as though she had said the wrong thing.

"What's wrong Angel? What's the big deal about Haven Fields?" Fang asked quietly as Fang got on his knees to get eye level with her.

"Haven Fields is the place between Heaven and Hell..."

"So we're at the cross-"

"Cross roads of life and death? Yes," Rogue said as he took a seat and smiled. "Come sit with me. I sort of need someone to play with me... y-you will play with me right?"

Fang felt like he should be killing Rogue right about now, something made him almost run up to him and destroy him. Angel however smiled.

"Sure... we'll play with you."

_"Are you sure about this Angel?"_

Angel nodded. She walked over to Rogue and she sat down beside him.

"What are we going to play?"

Fang rolled his eyes; there was no way in Hell or Heaven... or in Haven Fields was he going to play with anyone. He walked out of the house and sat down next to the doors just in case.

Angel looked at Rogue who took out a crystal ball and held it with both of his hands. He smiled, "it's called truth or dare."

"With a crystal ball?"

"Yep. You just touch it and if it turns blue then you have to do a dare, but if it turns green you have to tell the truth... and if it turns red then it means you're lying."

Angel nodded, "sounds fair enough... are you a prophet?"

Rogue wagged a finger at Angel.

"We didn't start Angel. You start and we'll work through the game and try to understand each other."

Fang listened to that and he sighed. You didn't understand a person any better by playing a dumb game like truth or dare. Rogue... even if he was younger and probably didn't have a bone of evil in him, he still felt horrible being around him.

Soren and Shira though... there was something about one of them that made him want to scream. He wanted to know how Angel's battle ended, how she wound up dead, but he knew that he would have to wait for a long while for it to happen. He could only come up with conclusions.

This demon Cecelia probably killed her when she found out that Angel was alive. Maybe Angel tried to protect Charmy but died? Fang wasn't sure about what could've happened or what did happen. He was just more concerned about Rogue.

"ROGUE!"

Fang's ears twitched as he darted in to see Angel crying and Rogue's clawed fingers gripping her wrist and held it away from the crystal ball. Angel was whimpering for Rogue to let go but he wouldn't.

Fang took out his pistol and gave a warning shot. Rogue's eyes widened and his grip loosened and Angel ran toward Fang. Fang watched as Rogue dropped the crystal ball and at the last minute a pure white pillow appeared out of nowhere. The crystal ball slammed into the pillow and white feathers flew everywhere.

Angel sneezed and rubbed the feathers away only to see that the feathers were melting away and the crystal ball safely made it on the hardfloor ground and rolled toward Shira.

"Shira!" Angel cried at the same time Rogue did.

"Rogue... why would you hurt her? What did she do?"

"N-N-Nothing!"

Shira walked over to Rogue and gave him the ball back and frowned, "I thought I could trust you. If I didn't come here then bad things would've happened."

"You don't understand though! THEY'RE FROM THE FUTURE!"

Rogue's voice echoed and the last sound that could be heard before the dead silence was Shira whispering, "what?"

**---**

**Okay guys, this idea was a bit strange to me. So Angel's plan to go back in time sort of failed, but they met up with Shira, Soren and Rogue... a strange little group of demons wouldn't you say? Anyways, so how will this work out for Fang and Angel? And how did Angel mess up with going back in time? These questions will be answered soon. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I hope you guys will tell me what you think.**


	11. Time Disturbia

Hey guys! Alright, a strange idea slammed into me for this chapter and it'll help out with the rest of the story as well. So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her OCs mentioned in the previous chapters like Angel the butterfly, Rogue the demon, Sinister the hedgehog, Shira and Soren the wolves, and so forth.

Thank you disclaimer, here's chapter ten!

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Time Disturbia**

No one spoke in that house; everyone's voice retreated when Rogue revealed the duo's secret of being from the future. Shira glanced at Fang before her eyes fell to the ground, and Rogue held a victorious glint in his childish, innocent eyes. The door opened and Soren stepped in with a couple bags of groceries but he blinked at the sudden stillness and silence of the house.

"Okay, what's going on?"

Angel was scared. She remembered that the Angel of Death told her to never be discovered in the past otherwise the future would be changed, that her powers would leave her. She was panicking and it was obvious as her blue wings twitched and shook as she thought of what would happen to not only her but to Fang and the future... would there even be a future??

She was expecting to hear Shira tell Soren about what Rogue said. Instead she heard this:

"... Fang said a bad word!"

Angel looked up from her feet and saw Soren glaring at Fang who returned the deadly gaze. Soren then smiled almost evilly as he put an arm around Fang's neck as though they were best buddies.

"I need to talk to you. Step outside?"

Fang sweatdropped and as they walked toward the exit, Fang looked back to see Shira send him an apologetic expression. When they closed the door Angel was frozen in her spot while Rogue and Shira walked over to her.

"Are you okay? You look pale."

Angel nodded, "yeah... I was just scared."

"That we were going to tell? Whenever Rogue says stuff that's going to happen we cover it up. Brother doesn't pay much attention and we're used to making up excuses to cover up his visions."

The butterfly looked at Rogue whose demonic red eyes were glued to his feet, and for once she saw something she thought she wouldn't see in a demon. She saw a genuine, apologetic soul trapped inside a dark chameleon, in the form of the future face of one of the people that wanted her and Sinister dead. The thought halted everything and Angel frowned.

"Rogue... do you know who-"

"Sinister is? Yes."

Angel's attenaes drooped slightly until Rogue poked Angel in the forehead with one of his knife like fingers. A shiver was sent down her spine and she backed away.

Rogue's face turned from curious to one that mimicked being hurt.

"Am... Am I seriously that horrifying? Do I scare you? If it was from before I'm seriously sorry about that."

"Well you can... wait... did you just apologize?"

The black chameleon nodded.

"Of course I did. Isn't that what people do when they did something wrong in the future?" Rogue questioned. Angel had to admit, for making such a huge mistake and meeting the past Rogue, she was glad she did. If only Rogue was like this in the future, then things would've been different.

"Yeah. That's what we do. We apologize. And I'm sorry if I gave you that impression, it's just that in the future, you're much scarier so I wasn't sure how to react."

Shira giggled.

"He's always been like that. With the clawed hands and so on. We don't know why but it's pretty useful if we don't have any knives to cut things and so on."

Angel had to smile slightly at that; her worse enemy was such a strange weirdo as a kid. But there was something that was bugging her about this. She sensed something horrible was going to happen but... nothing had. How could she still feel that sting of dread when they were getting along at this moment in time?

"How did you get here anyways? In the past I mean."

"Well Shira, that's a bit complicated. It just happens."

Rogue's childish eyes held a sage look as he smiled.

"Time warp. You warped Fang and yourself back here to show the baka what happened to you. Of course you failed if you're this far back."

Angel nodded.

_"This is disturbing me... he knows EVERYTHING! No way can a kid like him be this smart in the prophecy area at such a young... strike that. I don't know his real age. For all I know he can be a hundred years old but only be in a child's body!"_

The sound of the doors flying off the hinges, a body slamming against the table and the sound of Shira shrieking dragged Angel out of her mind. She ran over to the nearly unconscious Fang and she shook him.

"Fang?"

"O-Okay... I'm... alright..."

Angel sighed as she patted his head and she sat down and watched as Soren walked in and smirked with triumph. Shira frowned.

"Brother! You didn't have to beat him up! You probably messed something up!"

"Messed something- did Rogue see something in another one of his nonsense visions?"

Shira shook her head quickly, too quick for Soren's liking. Soren looked at Angel who just shivered at the swift glare. She had seen that glare before but where exactly?

No, she was being stupid, there was no way she had seen that glare before. It was impossible.

"What if I did see something? I'm doing us a favor by sharing it."

"But you're being dumb by believing everything that you see. Use some common sense!"

"You won't be saying that when you admit I'm right and that Shira and I belong together more than you two do."

Angel was confused; together? Was Rogue jealous of Soren?

"Not this again! Now you're being even more stupider than before! Besides, I'm Shira's brother and you can't do anything about genetics!"

Rogue seemed slightly angry almost like he was about to have a temper tantrum like a true child, but instead Rogue clenched his clawed hands only to be stopped even in that process by Shira.

"Rogue, don't clench. You'll hurt yourself."

"Shira! How can you want to stay with him!? He's controlling you like a pawn in a chess game!" Rogue shouted at Shira.

Shira backed away, her eyes watering with tears; apparently she didn't like being yelled at. Soren slapped Rogue across the face.

"GET OUT!"

"I'll get out when you die!"

Soren kicked Rogue in the shin and Rogue's eyes started to water with pain filled tears. Rogue didn't leave though as he returned the lethal stare that Soren shot at him.

"I said get out."

"And I said when you die."

"You drop dead first!"

"If I do that then Shira wouldn't have a real life!" Rogue remarked as Soren lifted Rogue and threw him outside where the dark chameleon flew right into a tree. Rogue's red eyes were closed as a depressed look overcame him.

"Rogue!"

The dark chameleon darted away from the house before Shira could see that he had a very large gash on his head. Angel then realized how she saw that earlier glare from Soren. She knew him in the future.

"Soren you should be ashamed of yourself!"

Soren looked at Angel as the butterfly stared at the wolf straight in the eyes.

"Why? Because he wants to be a selfish brat?"

"Because through everything you said to him... he's actually right. You control everyone as though they're pawns. How about you give up the game of chess before you meet the queen and get your butt handed to you? I'm surprised that Shira doesn't hate you."

Angel ran outside and followed after Rogue who was crying almost hysterically. Rogue finally stopped by a tree sapling and he sat down, tears running down his face.

"Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay!? How can I be okay when I just got thrown against a tree?!" Rogue snapped at Angel as he held the gash on his head and he sniffled.

Angel dug through her pockets and took out a few tissues, she walked over to him and started to dab his wound.

"You know something. Everything you said about him is right. He's a jerk. He always want something to control."

Rogue didn't say anything and Angel brought up enough courage to ask, "you like Shira don't you?"

"More than anything on Mobius, Heaven, Hell and everything else in between."

Angel smiled. She didn't know what kind of person Shira grew up to be, but she wondered if Shira was the way to keep him out of the dark side of things that would lead to the future.

"You should know that. I mean with what'll happen in the future and stuff."

"You know what's going to happen?"

Rogue nodded, "Shira and I are gonna wind up together forever and we're going to wind up getting married and have a kid."

Angel blinked back her surprise until Rogue said, "of course that's not one of my visions. That's what my heart is telling me."

"That's so cute!"

"Cute?"

"Love is a wonderful thing and I'm happy you found someone to love," Angel remarked as she sat down next to Rogue. She never really would've expected to say something like that to him, no matter how old he was.

The chameleon stared at Angel and he asked, "you really believe me?"

"Of course I do. I can disagree with a lot of things, but that's one of the things I don't argue with. Love is far out of my reach. I'm just a kid after all. Sinister would know more about love than me."

"Sinister... she's the hedgehog who works for someone important right?"

Angel nodded.

"She sounds nice... can we go see her?"

"I don't know. She's in the future and I can't just leave Fang behind."

"How about this? We'll grab Fang and we'll go to the future."

The butterfly felt something in her stomach turn and she also thought her stomach was doing flips. Something wasn't right, she knew there was something important that she wasn't allowed to do. Unfortunately she couldn't remember it.

"I won't interfere with anything that's happening in the future or anything. I just need some advice, which unfortunately I'm not going to get here. Please Angel?"

He had a point; Rogue wasn't going to go to Shira or Soren for advice on love, and Fang probably wasn't the person to go to for advice anyways. She sighed as she stated, "fine. But let me warn you, I'm dead in the future so I don't know if you'll be able to see me or not."

Rogue nodded, "that's okay! Lets get Fang!"

The duo got up and they charged toward the house but what Angel felt next was the final thing that led to her dreadful feelings. Her heart seemed to skip a beat or at least that was what it felt like as she put her hands over where her heart should've been and she fell onto her knees. Rogue skidded to a halt as he put a hand on Angel's shoulder.

As Rogue was about to ask Angel what happened, the duo heard a strange crackling noise, and the orange glow caught the duo in utter fear and surprise as they witnessed a large fire. The massive flames flickered and Rogue shouted one thing.

"SHIRA!!"

"FANG! FA-" Angel gasped as she felt herself getting weaker and weaker. In this moment of vunerability she realized what was wrong. "T-Time... Dis... Tur...Bia..."

"A what?"

"Something... hap...pens... but... it's... not... sup... pose to ha...ppen..."

Angel shivered as Rogue hugged Angel, "take us to the future, quick!"

She nodded and the duo glowed softly and a large flash of a portal appearing startled Rogue. Angel tensed up and fell limp in Rogue's arms. Rogue looked at the portal and he lifted Angel up bridal style and as tears fell down his face for the fate of Shira, he jumped into the portal.

The portal crackled and flashed but one other figure jumped through before the portal completely vanished.

**---**

**Finally this chapter is done! Okay, I know this is a bit confusing at the moment but it'll be explained next chapter, I promise. That and the last part of the chapter just came to me out of nowhere. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter and please tell me what you guys think.**


	12. Future meets Past

Hey guys! This story has been a pain to write thanks to that technical difficulty that met me halfway through completing this chapter and it even erased this chapter ten times. No cousin involved this time. Anyways I think I got it taken care of. I think it's gone forever! Now that I'm back in business, let me present my latest chapter of Family Matters! Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her usual OCs like Angel the Butterfly, Sinister the Hedgehog, Spades the Cat, Rogue the Demon, and many others you can find in the previous chapters.

Lights, Laptop, and... TYPE!

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Future meets Past**

The surrounds seemed surreal, almost imaginative when Angel and Rogue appeared in the middle of the dense forest. Rogue looked at the large trees that he recalled at one time never being there, and then his attention turned to Angel who was unconscious. The dark chameleon never figured that such a young girl could be responsible for time travel...

The flames were forced to be carved into his mind forever, it made his heart ache just thinking about what could've happened to Shira, to Fang. But no remorseful thoughts came to him when Soren appeared in his mind. He was still angry at him, and he would never forgive him.

His clawed hands held Angel gently and he smiled at Angel, something he hadn't been able to do whenever Soren was around.

"Thank you Angel," he whispered as he started to follow a dirt trail.

A light breeze brushed past Rogue and the chameleon stopped; something was watching them. He turned around swiftly to see nothing out of the ordinary, or at least that's what he believed anyways. He returned to his original position and he began walking.

"... How fortunate it is to see you."

Rogue stopped and he glanced around quickly, his visions that he was so used to having didn't come to him, and this sent his heart into a frantic frenzy. His hold on Angel tightened slightly, and he backed away from the fork in the trail that laid ahead of him. He stopped as soon as he felt something abnormal, something smooth... something that was holding a weapon.

A knife of some sort was carefully placed against his neck. A fine river of warmth flowed down his neck and when it fell onto Angel's pale face, his heart nearly stopped. Blood.

"Now lets be a good little boy and come with me without a struggle."

The chameleon was scared, his ruby red eyes showed it but he felt as though he had heard the voice before. It sounded familiar, but he knew he hadn't talked to anyone except for Soren, Shira, Fang and Angel.

"And if I don't?"

"Then don't count on staying alive for very long. Angel might've been able to escape but you have no where to run," the figure spoke calmly.

Rogue's mind went blank, a sudden burst of white blinded his previous, frantic thoughts and a single image appeared. It was of a small honey bee. A pair of honey colored eyes were wide as he screamed out a name, one he'd have to remember for future references.

The dark chameleon took a deep breath and replied, "very well."

The knife-like object was removed and it took a moment for Rogue to process that it was attached to something dark... something like a hand. He turned around and stared at the ruby eyes that were just like his, the only thing that ran through the small kid's mind was this:

_"...That's me?"_

The young Rogue felt every nerve in his body tingle, a warning the chameleon had learned to cope with for years. But now he realized that it wasn't a false alarm like the other times were, this was the real deal, and he had the perfect moment to run.

"Don't even think about it," the older version of him said in a threatening voice, "you run and you might never get to see the light of day again. Not that it matters. Time is dead."

"Dead?"

"Correct. The last ounce of energy spent on getting you out of the disaster back in your time, cost this girl something precious. Her life."

Rogue looked down at Angel and that's when he noticed that she wasn't breathing, wasn't moving. She was nothing but dead weight. He was touching something dead, something that he felt responsible for.

"You killed her."

"N-No! I would never kill my friend!"

"Friend? What kind of friend is she leaving you in a position like this?"

Rogue backed away from his older self and he quivered as he felt disgusted at touching a dead body, but at the same time... he actually felt like he really had killed her. But he didn't! He shook the guilt away and glared at his older self.

"You're me. And since I'm still young I can change! I'll change you and make sure you don't-"

Rogue squealed and his grip on Angel released as the older demon's clawed fingers wrapped around his neck. More crimson rivers ran down his neck and onto the rest of him. He cried in pain as he tried to pry the grip away from his neck, but nothing was working. He gave out one final scream of terror and pain, the older demon suddenly released Rogue.

The dark chameleon fell to the ground next to Angel. His eyes were wide as a purple chameleon and a crocodile appeared. They looked at the young Rogue as though he was infected, a diseased being.

"What the-"

"We'll ask later. Vector, you know what to do."

Vector charged at the older demon and slammed a punch into his head, knocking the demon backwards and into a very large tree. Espio knelt beside Rogue and his gold eyes locked onto his ruby red ones.

"Are you okay?"

Rogue was speechless as pain ran through his neck and blocked out his voice. That freaking hurt and anyone who's reading... please don't let this happen to you! Nor try to attempt it, it's bad for your health.

_**CRACK!**_

Suddenly Espio was thrown backwards as Vector flew toward him. The duo were on the ground as the older Rogue was covered in shadows, obviously ticked by being punched.

"Any last words before I wipe you from existance?"

"Do... Y... ou... sh... ut.... u-up?" Rogue asked as he stood up and blood ran down his clawed hands, giving him a horrifying appearance. Before anyone could react, Rogue fell into a shroud of shadows that all took on forms of knives and daggers.

"W-What?! I don't learn that until-"

"It's too late."

Older Rogue turned around and saw Shadow standing on a tree branch. Shadow's eyes were stuck in a glare which aimed mental chaos spears at the demon.

"Get out."

"Weren't we partners?!"

"Were. Until I found out your motives. Now get."

"What about Sin-"

"She was controlled. Now get the hell out of here!" Shadow shouted as he launched chaos spears at Older Rogue.

The demon's eyes were wide as he vanished and the spears nearly hit Angel's body. Shadow chaos controlled next to Angel and looked at Rogue who had backed against a tree out of fear.

"Are you okay?"

Rogue shook his head.

"A...ng...el..." he struggled to say as he pointed at Angel's limp body.

"How did you know about Sinister?" Espio questioned as he and Vector walked over to Shadow and Rogue.

"Simple. Who better to learn the truth from than the victim? Sinister, Toxin... Spades, come out."

Spades appeared along side Sinister who both seemed freaked out by Angel's dead body, and Toxin jumped out of the tree and accidently landed on Shadow. The hedgehogs both glared at each other before they got back to their feet.

Sinister didn't move from her spot as she looked at Rogue then at Angel. The person she considered a sister was dead, and just because she brought Rogue out of the line of danger back in his time period. Sinister walked over and she actually looked like she would kill Rogue on the spot but instead of hitting him or coming close to killing him, she patted him on the head and got down so she was the same height as him.

Rogue gulped, and he tightly closed his eyes. The next thing he knew he was in an embrace, and he along with everyone else appeared freaked out as the person who was hugging him was Sinister.

"... It's okay. I deal with death all the time. I'm not about to get angry at you because of this."

"Sinister," Spades said quietly, "what are we going to do? We've got Espio and Vector, even Shadow. What do we do now? Where do we look?"

"Remember? I still have to go to the place I met the Angel of Death and see what I find there."

"Don't you mean we?" Rogue asked as he looked at Sinister with his large red eyes.

Sinister's eyes welled up with tears as she patted Rogue on the head and she started to walk away.

"Where are you going?!"

Sinister turned her head back and stared at Spades with tears running down her face.

"I'm going to find Angel of Death, I'm going to make sure Angel comes back to life and makes sure this doesn't freaking happen again, and I'm going to kick Ro... the older Rogue's ass!"

Sinister turned around and she darted away. Espio, Vector, Spades, Toxin and Rogue stared at each other with confused, stunned expressions. Spades clenched his hands and he ran after Sinister, there was no way he was going to let Sinister knock on the door to trouble, and neither was Rogue and Shadow as they ran after Spades in a flash.

That left Espio, Vector and Toxin left. The trio looked at each other with obvious dislike for each other.

"Three... perhaps we can be a team for a while. I believe we can find Mighty and the others if we travel together."

Toxin crossed her arms and she shot a glare at Espio.

"That's stupid! Pathetic even! I have a better idea. One that'll take care of the other demon."

"Cecelia?"

"If that's the demon then yes," Toxin stated as she took out a sniper rifle and smirked, "all that's with me, follow me and be ready to see the greatest display of fireworks you will ever see in your lives."

Espio and Vector glanced at each other before they followed Toxin toward a clearing.

**---**

**Oooh, Sinister just blew up... I think. Well for the tenth time of being erased, it has finally been complete! Sorry that there's not really any evidence of what happened to Sinister and the others between this time but it'll be answered next chapter. Anyways I hope you guys like it and please tell me what you think.**


	13. What Happened

Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews you guys, I appreciate them a lot. Also I would like to bring up that this story is getting a bit easier so it'll be easier to update more often hopefully, that is if school doesn't interfere which I doubt but... better to be safe than sorry. I hope you guys like this chapter and as usual please leave some comments about the story, I'd like to see what you guys think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her usual OCs that you'll find in the previous chapters.

Alright, here comes chapter twelve.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: What Happened?**

Anger is something that's leathal, deadly to anyone that dares to face up to it. It's worse than any demon on the face of Mobius because it destroys bonds and kills friendships easily. Unfortunately to face up to anger is one thing, but to face up to someone that you liked who had fallen victim to rage is a completely different thing.

That's what Spades was thinking as Shadow, Rogue and himself followed the very furious Sinister. He could understand why she was angry, as far as he could understand, Angel was very important to Sinister. But what he couldn't grasp, was why she wasn't angry at the mini Rogue. After all, wasn't he the child version of the demon that wanted her dead?

He sighed as his gaze averted to Sinister and his face turned slightly pink.

"Cute..." he whispered. As a calm breeze passed by him, he glanced at Rogue to see that he was staring at him with a large grin. "What do you want?"

"... You're like me! You're in love with someone too!"

Spades blinked, "pardon?"

"You like that hedgehog don't you?"

Rogue's red eyes danced with excitement and his smile made him seem like a completely different person when compared to the older Rogue. Spades sweatdropped as he nodded.

"Yeah, yeah."

The dark chameleon grinned, "that moment you two shared was very nice."

"Huh?"

"Back at the Hikari Raid, when you were comforting Sin and-"

Spades slapped a hand over Rogue's mouth and the muffled words kept spewing out of the chameleon's mouth as though he didn't get that the hand over the mouth meant to shut the hell up. After a while he removed his hand and Rogue blinked.

"So what made her talk to you and not Toxin?"

The cat looked at the trees around them and the flashback started.

**--- Flashback ---**

_Spades could remember pacing around the small room of the Hikari Raid, and of course he could recall how much his head felt like exploding, what he couldn't quite remember was how he wound up walking right into a wall. The exploding feeling in his head subsided shortly after that, and the cat was very happy. But what he wanted to know at the moment was what was taking Toxin so freaking long to give Sinister the antidote... well until-_

_The door slammed open and Sinister stormed out quickly, and she walked right into Spades._

_"Sinister! You have to take this if you don't want the side effects to keep returning!"_

_"Get the hell away from with that... that, junk! I'm not going to take it and you can't make me," Sinister stated as she glared at the small cup filled with the lime green liquid._

_Sinister rolled her eyes at Spades as he gave her a stern glance, then the hedgehog darted outside. Toxin growled angrily as she placed her full attention into a stare that was aimed right at him. Seconds passed... then minutes... a shiver slowly shot up his back and the hair on his head and on the back of his neck stood up as though he was terrified._

_"What?"_

_"Help."_

_"How am I going to be able to convince her to take the stuff... actually I see exactly why she won't. It looks a bit... what's the word... repulsive? Disgusting?" Spades said in a thoughtful tone._

_"Lets see. Talk to her, get her to take it and I won't be forced to shove this... repulsive liquid down _your_ throat. Are we clear?"_

_Spades' expression was horrified until the cat looked from the antidote, to Toxin... then back at the liquid. He snatched the cup away and clearly stated, "I hate you."_

_"I know. Now just be a gentleman and help-"_

_"I ain't no gentleman!"_

_"Okay, be the damn gambler that you appear to be," Toxin corrected herself as she crossed her arms._

_Spades walked toward the door and smirked, "that's better."_

_Who knew that Sinister was hard to find in the shadows of the tall trees that stood proudly around the small japanese like building? Spades definately didn't, but most people would take her dark clothes and her dark spikes into consideration when searching for her. When he finally found her sitting in the shadows, he was pretty shocked to see clear, sparkling tears falling from her face to the ground._

_"Sinister?"_

_The hedgehog quickly wiped the tears away from her face and smiled at Spades, her sadness completely disguised by her mask of happiness._

_"Hey Spades. What's up?"_

_"... Depends. What were you crying about?"_

_Sinister glared slightly, "I wasn't crying! Something... was in my eyes," she remarked defensively._

_Spades took his seat next to the hedgehog and smirked, "that never works. Truthfully answer my question. No lies."_

_"I wasn't lying! Besides, you don't have to know."_

_There was no way she wanted Spades to be involved anymore than he was, of course at that moment, she couldn't hear his inner thoughts that had long ago made the fateful decision to stick with Sinister until her problem was solved. Spades smiled._

_"You were worried about something... or someone?"_

_Silence... then-_

_"Yes. Angel."_

_"Angel? The weird butterfly you were telling me about earlier?"_

_Sinister nodded, "she's like a little sister to me. If anything has happened to her I don't know how long I'd last."_

_"You have friends though right? So if she's-"_

_"What friends?"_

_Spades frowned as he tilted his head, "huh?"_

_"What friends are you refering to? The ones that will die pretty soon, or the ones that are already dead?"_

_He blinked; was he sure he heard that right? He must've because Sinister looked toward the ground and shook her head._

_"No one is immortal. Everyone dies, but everyone winds up dying before me."_

_"But... what about the Angel of Death, isn't he a friend?"_

_"No. He's just the person that saved me from death. Since then I've been cheating death by dealing those innocent kids, people the very thing they try to avoid every day! All my friends are dead or are going to die! Why else do you think I have no connections with anyone!?" Sinister explained as her voice cracked. The hedgehog would've never broken down like that, but her emotions were in turmoil and nothing seemed to make sense. What Spades got out of the conversation was that if Angel was to die, then she wouldn't have the courage to keep going. He would prevent that from happening... but first._

_He put an arm around Sinister's shoulders and told her to be quiet._

_"It's going to be alright. I promise. If something does happen to Angel, please don't give up. Try to keep going 'kay? Because I'm your friend, and unlike everyone else, I'm going to put my nine lives into use."_

_"That's just a dumb saying that cats have nine lives."_

_"How do you know? Are you a cat? I don't think you are."_

_Sinister sighed, "... I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe you're right."_

_"Glad you think so. Wanna drink? It's lime ade."_

_"... Lime what?"_

_"Ask Toxin. But it's oddly good."_

_Spades held the cup to Sinister and the hedgehog took it carefully. She took a sip then drank the rest of it up, "hey... you're right. It's not that bad."_

_The cat was in disbelief, she drank the whole thing without making a disgusted face. He would have to ask Toxin what made it seem so gross but taste so good._

_"Glad you liked it... um... Sinister..."_

_Sinister looked at Spades and the cat's heart skipped a beat. He shook his head, he didn't want to tell her yet. It wasn't the right time. _

_"Nothing. Lets go back before Toxin hunts us down and uses her sniper rifle on us."_

_The duo got up from the shadows of the trees and began to walk back toward the house where Toxin was ready to give a lecture about taking so long. And when the news of the antidote being the thing Sinister drank... lets just say that Spades ran the fastest on that particular day._

**--- End of Flashback ---**

"Spades? EARTH TO THE FREAKING CAT!!" Rogue screamed at Spades as the forest was behind the foursome and now ahead of them was a white sand beach with a clean lake.

Spades was thrown out of his flashback and he looked around and he took a very deep breath.

"The air is really clean," Shadow remarked as he looked around.

"Hmm."

"Maybe we can play! I've never been to the beach before!" Rogue cheered as Spades caught up with Sinister who stopped at the edge of the lake and was now watching the reflection in the water.

"Wanna take a break from travelling Sin?"

"Why would I want to do that? Angel is counting on me. Fate and everyone else is too. I have no time for breaks."

"Says you. Yo Shadow! Help a poor guy out!"

Shadow blinked as he looked at Spades. He walked over and shot a quick glare at Spades.

"Perhaps he's right. After all-"

"Who do you think you are? Telling me what to do. You have no authority over me old hedgie, and I'm old enough to know what to do."

The ebony hedgehog stared at Sinister before he chuckled, "fair enough. But can an old hedgie do this?"

Sinister blinked until chaos spears appeared and were thrown at her. She dodged gracefully and she stuck her tongue out, "missed me! You really are old!!"

As Shadow and Sinister were at each other with chaos spears, Spades and Rogue watched from a safe distance. The duo realized that Sinister was smiling and she actually liked dodging all of Shadow's attacks.

"This is nice. She needs to have fun, just to forget about what happened for a little while," Rogue said as he smiled, "did you meet the person in charge of the Hikari Raid?"

Spades shook his head, "no... why?"

"Sorry, can't tell you until everything is settled."

"What?"

"You'll see. Just give it a day more and things will start to unfold," the chameleon replied as he watched as Sinister tackled Shadow and Spades ran to join the duo. Rogue sighed as he looked at the sky; what were the others doing? Were they having fun? He didn't want to think about what they were doing, he wanted to focus on what was going on around him now.

He started to walk over to the trio when something stopped him. A shadowy figure watched them from the top of a cliff nearby. Rogue was about to say something until the figure disappeared. A forebonding feeling washed over the dark chameleon as his red eyes scanned the area one last time before he ran toward the trio and the fun began.

But nothing can be ignored forever.

**---**

**Hey guys! Alright, so that's the chapter. I know what you guys are saying, "where's the Canon Characters? It's not a Sonic Story without them". And I know you're all right about that. Which is why next chapter is guarenteed for Canon Characters. I can't be too specific about which ones you'll see but when the chapter comes out you'll be happy to see Canon Characters rather than OCs. Anyways, please tell me what you think and I hope you guys enjoyed. Oh yeah, and my friend Mariko-ai-chan has a new forum up and I hope you guys are able to check it out!**


	14. Extermination: Phase One

Hey guys! I know I'm just a little late on updating this. I've been stuck with essays for school, homework, and writers block for the past few days. But I'm going to try my hardest to make it through with this chapter of Family Matters. Hope you guys like it! Please tell me what you think of it too.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective doesn't own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her usual OCs mentioned in the previous chapters.

Here you go!

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Extermination- Phase One**

It seemed like an eternity since Mighty had seen anyone, it felt even longer than that as he wandered around the darkness, completely lost. The armadillo wouldn't have expected things to turn out like this; his daughter was gone, and walking beside him was a little girl who controlled everyone's fate, and a pyrokinetic swallow. He was scared, he knew that much, but how long would this fear plague him?

The night sky had never seemed so horrifying, so tragically misplaced before in the eyes of the trio, but now it was a harsh reminder that all good things must leave. The light was the best thing since they've been wandering but now that it was gone, they weren't sure what to expect.

A sigh escaped from Fate as she hugged herself; for the past few hours Fate had been hugging herself and occasionally sobbing.

"Think we should stop?" she asked quietly, as if she might disturb the silence and demons would appear to attack.

Mighty glanced at Flame who had her eyes closed and was sleep walking, then he looked at the frightened Fate. He nodded and he gently stopped Flame from walking anymore. The trio sat down within the tall grass and they seemed very tense and unable to relax.

"Where are we going?"

"To Sundown Hill."

"Sundown Hill? What's that Fate?"

"It's around the general location where the Angel of Death resides, and it's also where he saved Sinister from death," Fate explained to Mighty as the armadillo gently helped Flame lay down. Mighty nodded and tilted his head.

"Sinister is the apprentice of the Angel of Death right? So she can't die right?"

Fate nodded, "But at the time when Sinister met him, she was normal, actually she's from the future if you can believe that."

"The... future? Like Silver the Hedgehog?"

"That's right."

"What's she doing here then?"

"That's what the Angel of-"

Mighty gave a slightly tired stare before questioning, "Can we just call him the AoD for now? Makes things quicker to explain."

The fox blinked and finally nodded.

"Okay. As I was saying though, AoD foresaw an event that wasn't suppose to happen in this time period and he went into the future to save Sinister. After all, if Sinister dies then Silver can't exist."

"Wait... you mean that Sinister is related to him?"

"Yep. Of course, when the AoD saved her from being murdered, he didn't know. When he brought her back here, he found out and he instantly made her immortal to death. And then AoD convinced Sinister to help him kill people as a debt to making her immortal, but... he tricked her and forced her to kill innocents that probably could've lived another year before being killed."

Mighty blinked, shocked that someone with so much power could be so corrupt.

"So AoD is actually corrupt?"

Fate gave a so-so sign; maybe there was still hope. Mighty sighed, "okay... how come the demons don't want anyone to make it to Sundown Hill then? What purpose does this place hold?"

"..."

The fox fell silent and tears started to trickle down her face as she began to hug herself again. Mighty moved closer to Fate and hugged her as she started to cry.

"What's wrong?"

"... It's where a demon's existance can be wiped away in an instant. Meaning if someone like... Charmy made it to the place, then Rogue and Cecelia would no longer exist..."

The armadillo felt his whole body quiver with slight fear as Fate added, "and it can wipe away anyone who isn't a demon. With or without any intention."

"But... why us? Why do we have to go if there's that chance that-"

Mighty didn't get to ask his question as the sound of buzzing and someone sniffling could be clearly heard. Fate's blinked and she glanced toward the sound.

"Mighty... I'm telling you this because I care. That's Charmy and you need to comfort him. We shouldn't have to help with that."

His cerulean eyes stared at Fate and Flame and he felt something was off; he got up though and gave one last look at them and said, "I promise we'll make it there. And we'll be safe."

"... I know you will make it," Fate replied.

Mighty noticed that she was only refering to him when she said it. He sighed, he'd have to talk to her to have some hope after he calmed Charmy down. He walked carefully toward the sound, and as it grew louder and louder, he could see Charmy rubbing his eyes, no doubt wiping away his tears.

"Charmy?" he called out.

The honeybee stopped dead in his tracks and got ready to sting the living crap out of the person who called him through the dark. When Mighty came into view, Charmy put down his guard and almost knocked him to the ground as he hugged the armadillo.

"MIGHTY!!"

"Hey, hey calm down. I'm right here, I'm not deaf."

"A-Angel's dead... Angel's dead..."

Mighty's eyes widened when the news began to echo in his head; Angel was dead? How could that happen? Let alone, how could Charmy have escaped unharmed when Angel lost her life? Mighty didn't care, he tightened his hug.

"M-mighty... C-Can't breathe!"

He released his hug and Charmy fell to the ground like a rock falling from the sky. Charmy's face was blue but it regained it's usual color after about five minutes of gasping for air. He flew back into the air and he wiped his tears.

"Where did you go?"

"It's... weird. We've been trying to find Sundown Hill."

Charmy's blank stare meant that he needed an explanation and that's exactly where twenty minutes went toward. The bee then nodded once he got it clear as to what was so significant about it.

"Flame and Fate will be glad to see you're okay. Have you heard from Espio and Vector?"

Charmy's eyes widened as he took out the green cell phone and dialed a number so fast that you could've guessed that he was hyper. Mighty and Charmy leaned in toward the cell phone as they waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?"

An answer, and one from Espio was all that the duo needed to hear to understand that they were safe.

"Espio!"

"Charmy? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"We're sort of lost, and I think so. Angel's dead though."

There was the sound of Espio spitting water out of his mouth and the sound of him coughing as he choked. Silence until Vector asked, "how?"

"She was killed by Cecelia."

"Glad you're okay though... sorry to hear about Angel."

"It's okay... Mighty's here."

"Mighty?! Yo Mighty, are you okay?"

Mighty thought about that, was he okay? Physically he was perfectly fine, but emotionally he felt like he was going to explode from the sadness and anger that welled up inside of him. He nodded and replied, "Yes. I'm okay. Listen, you have to get a map and find the location of Sundown Hill. That's where Fate said we're meeting."

"Why didn't she tell us this earlier? We passed through a nearby town!"

"I don't know. But listen, find a map, and get to that location as quick as possible."

"Got it. Should we try to find each other and go there together?"

Mighty considered that possibility dozens of time while he was walking in the dark, but he decided against it. If they were together then chances were the demons would find them quicker.

"No. Just keep going without us and we'll meet you there. We got to go, see you."

"BYE VECTOR AND ESPIO!"

The phone disconnected and Charmy held onto the phone as though it was a lifeline, a reassurance that everything was going to be okay... but was it really?

---

Flame was awake for once and Fate was explaining to her what had happened. The swallow sighed.

"This is too much... I told Aerial I would be back by now... she's going to kill me when she finds out that I'm not back."

"Not if the demons kill us first."

"Stop that! Stop the negativity! We're going to make it out of this alive!"

The duo were shooting their opinions on the situation like bullets attempting to hit their target. In the darkness a pair of red eyes glared at them and the sound of rustling was enough for Fate and Flame to stop arguing. They glanced around and it wasn't until Flame's hand was engulfed in fire that they saw the demonic chameleon in the trees. The duo were about to scream until Rogue snapped his fingers; the only thing that came out of their mouths was silence.

Rogue jumped out of the tree and walked toward the duo, "Hello. Want to hear something that's completely true? The dead don't talk. Huh, that makes you dead doesn't it? Keep screaming like that and you're just going to suffocate... oh wait... you probably can't hear what I'm saying. Feel free to keep screaming then."

It was true, Flame and Fate's faces began to turn blue as they couldn't breathe. Fate was smart enough to stop screaming and she had to cover Flame's mouth and the duo's eyes were wide as they still couldn't breathe.

"One last thing you'll need to know before you go to Hell, Mighty and Charmy will be joining you soon. Farewell..."

Rogue smiled evilly as his knife-like fingers lunged toward Fate and Flame; on the ground red splattered like paint and the duo were gone just before Mighty and Charmy appeared.

Mighty saw the red blood on the ground, and Charmy started to panic. Rogue hid in the trees and he flashed a devious smile to himself as he telepathically connected to Cecelia.

_"Cecelia... I've destroyed Fate and the other problem. How is the tracking of Espio and Vector going?"_

_"So-so. I believe Espio has camaflouged themselves with the surroundings. I can't find them."_

_"It appears we're a bit late."_

_"I guess so. I'll keep find... I just found them. Get rid of the other problems, and make sure Mighty and Charmy make it to Sundown Hill."_

_"Since when were you in charge?"_

_"Never Master Rogue. I will see you there,"_ Cecelia finished off and Rogue dashed away to find Apple and Ocean.

---

Cecelia watched as footprints began to appear on the sandy beach. She didn't know exactly where they were, but she was positive that they weren't near Sundown Hill quite yet. Nonetheless she watched as the prints moved across the sand invisibly, making her feel like a true predator. _Master Rogue_; she hated that she had to call him that. She glared at the prints in the sand and she realized that she was just like those prints. If something like the wind came by then the prints would vanish, she didn't want to vanish due to Rogue. She wanted to stay around like a sore thumb. She wanted to get rid of anything that threatened that very concept.

She silently followed from a distance and she got ready to attack the unsuspecting duo. She watched as the prints began to move faster, moving from a walk to a swift jog. Her eyes lit up as she lunged toward them; what's a game of hide and seek if you can't enjoy the thrill of chasing them around?

**---**

**Hey guys! Oh my chaos the chapter is finally done! I know this is very late, but at least I updated it. My writers block is still around but I just had to write down this chapter since this idea smacked me in the face, begging me to post it. Anyways I hope you guys liked it and please tell me what you guys think of it.**


	15. Extermination: Phase Two Interrupted

Hey guys. Okay I know this chapter is overdue, and I apologize, school is very evil and with exams coming up in a couple weeks, I feel like my world could blow up. Of course it won't... but just to be safe I'll have to keep updating and make sure my imagination doesn't go away for the next couple weeks since it'll be the only thing that keeps me awake during my review classes. Anyways, here's chapter fifteen of Family Matters!

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. Look in the previous chapters for the list of characters that she does own though.

Here you go my fellow readers, hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Extermination- Phase Two Interrupted**

It seemed like a curse had fallen over the small cabin that sat along the beach; as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, casting the beach in a blanket of darkness, a veil of black, Sinister felt her mind wander to what could happen since she was with the younger version of Rogue. In all honesty, Sinister was scared of being around the demonic Chameleon, of course she was told that he was innocent when he was young, but she couldn't pull herself behind Shadow and Spades to trust them. If anything else, she actually developed paranoia just thinking about half the things that could happen with Cecelia, Older Rogue, and this little demonic Rogue around them.

The hedgehog shook the very feeling of someone watching them as she sat on the bed she claimed as her own. She waited for the person that she'd have to share the bed with. Spades.

First of all it wasn't her idea at all, mostly it was Shadow's idea since there were three rooms and neither Shadow or Rogue had the bravery to sleep in the same room as a guy, thus Sinister was chosen to face this difficult task. Difficult, because her heart felt like it would explode when Spades came into the room.

"Mobius to Sinister, you okay?"

Sinister snapped out of her paranoia day dream as she nodded, "y-yea. I'm okay... just thinking."

Spades climbed onto the bed and laid down, "thinking about what?"

"Do you really need to know?"

"Depends is it perv-"

The cat couldn't even finish his sentence as he was slammed over the head by Sinister's hand.

"Don't even suggest that!" Sinister remarked in a disgusted tone.

Spades sweatdropped, "Sorry, I was just saying."

"I know."

Moments passed when silence flowed between the duo and Spades noticed that Sinister was still sitting up, "aren't you tired?"

Sinister nodded, "... my mind's too busy for me to fall asl- what are you doing?"

The cat smiled as he pulled Sinister into a laying position, "just close your eyes and try sleeping okay? We'll probably have to keep moving when the sun comes up."

"What if-"

"No more what ifs okay? Keep having anymore of those and we're not going to be very trusting toward our own friends," Spades told Sinister in a calm tone. "Trust me on that one."

The hedgehog stared at Spades and sighed, "maybe you're right."

"See? It won't kill you just to relax for a few minutes. Is it hard to do, yes, especially in a situation we're in, but... it'll be good for you just to lay back, relax..."

Sinister shivered and glanced at Spades who stared at her.

"What?"

Spades turned on his side, his back to Sinister, "nothing."

Sinister smirked slightly as she hugged him, "thanks."

After a few minutes and Sinister fell asleep, still holding onto Spades, Spades allowed his face to turn bright tomato red and let himself drift into a sleep that was filled with rapidly beating hearts, and a pinch of imagination that kept him asleep for the next few hours.

**--- Few Hours Later ---**

The sound of screams pierced the air, or at least that's what Espio believed as he turned to Vector who looked very alert after hearing that. Toxin however, didn't seem bothered at all by it.

"What was that?" Vector asked.

"That? Probably a child in a nearby village, but that's not the point. We're at the beach."

"That's suppose to be a good thin-"

Toxin made a motion to the duo to stay quiet. The trio heard it perfectly, the sound of a tree branch snapping. The hedgehog looked at Espio for some reassurance, or at least an idea of where to hide. Espio seemed to read her mind as his gold eyes closed and a gust of wind passed the trio, the next thing they knew, they were camaflouged with their surroundings. Toxin nodded her thanks as she grabbed Vector and Espio's arms and started leading the way toward the cabin that seemed to almost scream, "COME STAY HERE! WE DARE YOU"!

Vector started to speed up his step so as did Espio. Toxin was slightly confused as she glanced back, then her face paled completely; behind them was the armadillo. Cecelia.

This should've come out as a complete horror, but instead, Toxin wanted to laugh at her. She was following their foot prints in the sand as though this was some kind of scavenger hunt of some sort. Toxin knew better than to laugh though, especially when the trio were now running away from Cecelia, whose eyes were filled with the look that a mass murderer would have before killing his list of victims. The sand was starting to be kicked up in the air and they kept running toward the cabin as though it was sanctuary among the valley of demons and evil spirits.

The door opened unexpectedly and the trio flew inside and the door slammed shut. The growl of a very angry armadillo rained through the door and the figure that held the door closed seemed almost too small to do a thing. Whatever he did though, drove away Cecelia.

"... Thank... you?" Espio said quietly, as though he was unsure if those words really fit the picture of the older version of Rogue. Carefully, the trio stood up and dusted themselves off.

"I saw that coming so I thought I better help out. Now Sinister is goin-"

The ebony hedgehog, Shadow, stormed into the small room and seemed very alert, despite the glare that was etched onto his face for having his rest disturbed.

"What happened?"

"Cecelia started to chase us and now we're praying that she's not coming back," Vector muttered as he felt the ruby red orbs that belonged to Shadow pierce his soul. The crocodile shivered at the thought that Shadow could do such a thing.

Toxin shook her head as she put more bullets into the sniper rifle, "she's going to come back."

"You sure?"

The question didn't come from Shadow, Vector, not even Espio. It came from Rogue.

Rogue sighed, "She's after Charmy and Mighty."

Vector and Espio's eyes widened and they seemed to ask for more answers with their silence, almost like how a parent would question their child if they did something wrong. Rogue backed away from them rather than give up more information. As he turned to go to bed he whispered, "She's not going to succeed."

Those words didn't reassure the detectives like they were meant to, but Rogue knew that those words were going to help the duo get through the night as they took their seat at the table.

Shadow sat down as well along with Toxin.

"So what's the plan?" Toxin asked as she looked at Vector.

The crocodile looked at everyone and sighed, "I... I don't know."

"Simple. We watch for the crazed armadillo and if she comes anywhere near here, shoot her Toxin," Shadow simply stated. This was rare to hear Shadow come up with a plan like that... no wait, it wasn't ultra rare, but it was rare. Toxin looked at her gun and nodded as she walked outside, sat against the cabin walls and seemed very alert. "Now as for the rest of us-"

Espio sighed, "I think I'll try and find Charmy and Mighty. Help them get here or to somewhere safer."

Vector stared at Espio as though he was a madman for a split second and sighed as he nodded.

The purple chameleon camaflouged and snuck out, not even giving a hint that he had left at all. Vector sat at the table and seemed tired. Shadow noticed this.

"... ... Something wrong?"

Vector could've punched Shadow for asking such an obvious question; with Charmy and Mighty the target of a murderous armadillo, Espio risking his life to get them to someplace safer, and to be the only detective in the building, he felt very alone. He held back his urge to punch the black hedgehog and shook his head.

"Nothing's wrong. 'Night," Vector quickly said as he got up and darted to the living room, where the couch was his bed for the night. Shadow didn't go to bed after Vector did, instead he wondered what it was like to feel like Vector. He stopped himself, he had already gone down that dark road, and he had no right to go back to it.

He had already picked up the pieces that he had left behind over fifty years ago.

---

"Mighty... I think we're lost."

No one wants to hear that statement when their friends were just killed. Not even Mighty, no matter how true it really was. The red armadillo seemed to lose track of where the duo had wandered into. Trees were everywhere, and Mighty grew tired of marking where he had been with his punches, maybe by quitting that was the reason why they were very lost now.

Charmy, who seemed so small and fragile, sat on Mighty's shoulders, his honey colored eyes struggling to stay awake, and they were blood shot from crying out of fear that they were going to be next. The honey bee didn't need to be told that there was the possibility that whoever killed Flame and Fate were still after them, that they would probably meet death soon.

Mighty sighed as he looked at Charmy.

"You can sleep if you need to."

Charmy shook his head quickly, "n-no! I-I can't!"

"You... can't?"

"I close my eyes and I see dead bodies."

As the words escaped from Charmy's lips, the bee hugged Mighty's head. The armadillo frowned as he took Charmy off his shoulder and cradled him in his arms.

"Fine, but I want to carry you to be sure nothing just takes you off my shoulder."

Charmy nodded slightly as Mighty kept walking around, passing by a tree they had passed over twenty minutes ago. Mighty started to feel paranoia rise into his thoughts as he could've sworn that they were being followed. No, he wasn't going to wind up like some sort of paranoid freak who wrongfully accuses people of doing things they're not responsible for. Mighty kept walking, holding Charmy and the silence felt like a slowly approaching death, it suffocated him under the fear of leading Charmy and himself into a pit of danger.

A branch snapped. Mighty ran as fast as he could but when he tripped over a tree root, dropping Charmy into a bush, the armadillo's heart nearly exploded.

Charmy peeked out of the bush and saw something familiar. No not something.

Someone.

**---**

**There you guys go! Oh and I won't reveal quite yet who the person Mighty and Charmy ran into, mainly because it's a slight surprise. Take a guess if you want to though. I hope you guys enjoyed it, especially after such a long time of not updating, I figured I better update it while the idea still is lingering in my head. Please tell me what you guys think, your reviews are greatly appreciated here!**


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